Manky Monkey Motors

If you've been following my Ford Pop truck thread in Hot Rod Tech, you'll know that I'm renting a corner of my mate Lunatic's workshop to build it in & spend a couple of hours every day there.
Loony's a body repair/respray guy, working from a converted barn on a farm just outside Basingstoke in Hampshire. Although the bulk of his work is modern hatchbacks, he's looking to branch out into more custom/race stuff & will prep & paint just about anything that doesn't move.
Rather than filling my own thread with pics of other projects, I thought I'd start a thread just for him & show you some of the stuff that comes through the door.

The latest job is this drag car body. It's a fibreglass copy of a 1930s model A Ford, but scaled down to form a single seater shell. These are used in the States for low budget circuit racing, kinda like our stock car racers.
This one's destined for a Rover V8 engined slingshot dragster. There's a trend at the moment for nostalgic 60s style dragsters with bodies like these. By bolting a simple shell over an existing slingshot racer, (one where the driver sits behind the rear axle), it's elligible for the Competition Altered race category, giving teams twice as many runs down the drag track. They also just look kinda funky.
The car belongs to Pedro, who lives on the Isle of Wight. My brother Brock's been doing some work on the chassis at his workshop in Wiltshire. From there, Scottie the hotrod haulier's taking it to his place in Berkshire to work on the engine. So he dropped the body off at Loony's workshop in Hampshire on the way past & will be back in a week to collect it, bolt it back on, then deliver the finished car to the docks for Pedro to collect. No pressure then.
There's a lightweight tubular frame inside, but the the fibreglass is still pretty wibbly wobbly, so Loony will use a shot of plasticiser in the paint to give it some flexibility.
Colour's going to be metallic British racing green.
In the foreground is Archie's part built XS650 Yamaha chop.

Of course, we were tempted to bung some spare wheels on it & go cruising, but that would be childish & unprofessional.  :P
Brum, bruuummmmm.

It's a real shame there's a bulkhead in it, cos it would've fitted perfectly over the top of Flap's Reliant trike in the background.

"Heavenly shades of night are falling, it's twilight time".
Evening at t' shop & the sun sets over Doug's split screen camper van.

Come on now Mankey Its Competition "Coupe"  >:( (Comp Altereds have the axle behind the driver like in Funny Cars ;) )

Yeah, you can tell I'm a spectator & not a racer can't you.  :P

Another day, another bunch of muppets at the shop.
Archie, who owns the Yamaha chop, is also part of the local VW Golf scene. Lots of young lads on a mission to get their Golluffs as low n loud as possible. Seems there's not a lot you can do to customise a modern car -everything's so integrated now that removing one piece buggers up everything else. So paint, pipes & wheels are about all you can change.
The boys drove into the yard in a cacophony of scraping plastic, (they're now so low that the front bumpers are being worn away by constant ground contact). Not personally my thing, but hey, that's what customising's all about ain't it -being different. And mad.
Today's job was to remove the silencer boxes from Archie's mate's Golf to make it a straight-through system. Yeah, I know, but it's not my car. Several hours of work under the car produced a V Dub that sounded like -well, a car with a blowing exhaust. He went away happy, & loud, but might be back next week to fit a competition silencer.

Anyone remember Mr Flap?
The One They Call Flap used to be a Postie & we worked together at the Basingstoke depot. He rode with me on my trike to a couple of bike shows & decided he wanted a Reliant trike of his own, so we set to & built him The Flapster. He won several trophies with it & showed it at the Bath & West show a couple of times, plus it was featured in Back Street Heroes magazine. A lot of people have told us his is the trike that inspired them to build one -which is kinda cool ain't it.
After a few years of riding, Flappy Boy changed jobs, got involved in the Terratorial Army, (weekend, reserve soldiers), & gradually disappeared from sight. But now he's back. He's grown some tattoos & is all enthused to tackle the trike again, so it's a good job he hung onto it while he was away. He's decided to fit some rear mudguards & tidy up a few other odds & ends to get it back on the road. It wasn't originally designed to have guards, so finding suitable mounting points for them was a bit of a challenge, but they should look O.K.
His name's Darren by the way -"Flap" was his little girls' nickname for his canvas roofed Landrover.
Good to see you again matey.  ;) 

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In the last photo.....whats that leaning by the green door behind the xs chop ?

"What's that leaning by the green door?" -that's a song isn't it?
It's one of Dig Darren's, (different Darren, not Flap), collection of off road 3 wheelers. I'll get a photo for you tomorrow. It's a tiny little 1980s 50cc Honda of some sort, but Daz has fitted a 125cc "pit bike" engine. Does 60mph with 18 stone of Darren on board. Loony cut a chunk out the side of the fuel tank to clear the carb, then resprayed it Honda red & added repro Honda graphics. They're going to upgrade from rigid forks to telescopic ones then make up a twin exhaust system for it. Yes indeed, Daz is quite, quite mad.  :P

that is a nice trike flaps i can see on the main page his write up for it but did he do build diary iv had a look but cant find it anyone help thanks
al

hay mr manky if ya gunna call me mad please get it right im barking msad woof woof !! lol  ;D ;D ;D

right lets see if this works !!

yippi i got it right so here are 2 more.....

tank mods and all paint by loony aka marcus

 ;D

No build diary I'm afraid Al -it was put together before we launched the website.
So what model is the little Honda then mad Darren?

Nice bit of fabbing there.

No, it's the truth, honest.

it started life as a 1985 honda atc70 with a recoil pull start and 3speet semi auto

Fabbing as in fabricating......i didnt mean fibbing  ;D ;D

He knew what you meant!  ;)

I did?  :P
Big Daz's lickle tricycle.

The bodywork's safely tucked away in Darren's living room. Next job is to make up a new pair of yokes to take the tele forks.

Kewl!

The drag car body's been primed & blown over in a rather fetching shade of metallic green. Gotta admit, I wasn't sure about the colour choice when Loony told me, but it works very well. Makes the fibreglass bodyshell look nicely vintage. Just spare paint from Loony's Cupboard Of Many Colours, but has a slightly bluey green look to it, kinda like a mallard duck's head. Just to accentuate some of the styling lines a bit, Loony masked off some 1/8" gold pinstipes along the waistline, gutter & around the roof escape hatch. The body's not very accurately moulded, so it wasn't easy to find a straight line to follow, but they work well.

I keep saying it needs the angled windscreen visor, as fitted to original model A Fords, maybe with hotrod holes punched in it. That'd help to firm up the roof above the screen opening, as there won't actually be a screen fitted in it so it's all a bit wibbly wobbly. I know it'd probably restrict the driver's vision, but Brock says he spends most of his time watching the guard rail rather than the track ahead anyway. Also think it needs a vinyl roof insert, like the original As. A couple of inches narrower than the guttering, with a chrome edging bead. The driver has to climb in & out through the roof hatch, which I would've thought will destroy the paint pretty quickly. A lightly padded vinyl panel would save that & give the body a more authentic vintage look.
Just my twopennuth worth.  :)
Scottie the hotrod haulier's bringing the car back on Monday to refit the body then take it straight to the docks to meet it's owner, Pedro, who lives on the Isle of Wight. So Loony will be rubbing down & clearcoating it this weekend.

Back in for the second time is this huge Austin Princess limo. Owned by a friend's Dad, it's used for weddings, but needs a spot of pre MOT chassis welding. Loony previously welded in a replacement section of exhaust pipe.

Big n little.

   He's worked bloody marvels with that body, looking really good , gold lines are a nice touch. There was talk of fitting an alloy visor to the "screen" but I really couldn't justify the time it would have taken, looking forward to seeing it finished and in sunlight

Here ya go- finished & in sunlight, as requested.

The little chequer plate platform on the back holds the parachute, (the cords are attached to the chassis, the plate is just a launch pad, so mounts to the fibreglass).

Just as Loony finished polishing the clearcoat, (lacquer), Scottie the Hotrod Haulier tm arrived with the car, right on cue.

Tea was supped & chins were wagged & then we lifted the body onto the car. It's held with just a couple of 8mm bolts front & back.
Amazing how it instantly transforms a fairly run of the mill Rover powered dragster into something much funkier. 

Reminds me of The Munsters.
Scottie wasn't convinced about the colour choice either, but we had to agree, it really works.

Scottie's still got some work to do on it before it heads back overseas, to the Isle of Wight. With luck it'll be racing at the "Gary's Picnic" meet later in the Spring.

I guess it's one of those things you either love or hate -I'm sure some people just won't "get" it, but I love it's whackiness. The body adds absolutely nothing to the car's performance, other than allowing it to race in a different category, but looks great -sometimes that's reason enough.

Beam it up Scottie.

   nice job, looking really good

Whacky is gooood, like it  :D

Is that the body works final position? or does it move forward a bit so the wheel arch lines up with the rear wheel?

I was thinking the same thing?...Seems odd having the arches cut out and them not being over the wheels?....Voodoo....

My guess would be that's where its gonna live.  ???

If you move it forward to line the arches up (say 2 - 3 feet), the roll cage will hang out the back, so the parachute would need a new home and some of the engine would be partly enclosed.

Have seen shots before of this style (which I kinda like as its a bit off the wall) but also like the idea of 'blanking' the wheel arches a bit.

Looks cool to me..........  ;)


http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6300.195


This video shows some 'bodied' rails.... (if ya watch it, be sure to turn the volume up to 11...........   ;D)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGU7V44QRI

these guys have gone beyond    :a bunch of mates messing about in various garages and sheds:   . its like american hotrod. impressive.....

Yup, that's where the body lives, hung out over the back of the car. I agree it looks "wrong" -maybe that's why I like it.  :P

It does look 'wrong' but I think if you tried to fill in the arches it would look really odd.  Not sure why.

Today's car is ...a Toyota Supra.
Loony's mate Ash brought his Supra in for some work on the rear bumper. He's into drifting -sort of skidding with attitude. Sliding cars around corners basically. He races in the Maxxis British Drift Championships. As it sits so low to the ground, the front bumper has to come off to load it on Ash's recovery truck. The car's purpose built for racing with all sorts of sooper dooper Supra stuff -alright, I don't know what it's fitted with, but it looks impressive with it's ground hugging body kit & sounds pretty awesome.
 

Loony's at the wheel here, though it was a bit of a squeeze for him to clamber in over the door bars of the roll cage. Good job the steering wheel's removable. He sponsors the car by painting it & repairing race damage to the bodywork. He'll eventually have his name on it -just as soon as they decide on a logo.

Another month, another bus.
Loony reckons he hates doing VW camper vans, but they seem to arrive on a regular basis. This bay window's in for the usual -new sills & arches.

I wants on o them - but I don't got nuff pennies!

A drift car? I suspect you mean a camper van Bobbi? 10 grand+ for a decent one these days.

i saw one camper up for nearly £30,000 it was a split screen but alot of paper
my son when he was about 12 used to muck about in cars we had when we had a garage in watching that dvd tokyo drift the wee b****** took a hole back end out in one easy move in vectra sri movies got a lot to explain

 :)
Loony has a split screen camper of his own tucked away for future use.
He also used to own this VW Beetle, but sold it to some mug, Archie. It was buried in the back of the workshop, so when we rolled the Pop out into the sunshine this afternoon, he had a chance to drag it kicking & screaming into the daylight to finally get a good look at what he bought.

Loony's already fitted a beam extender, to push the front axle further forward, in a similar style to the Pop, & done some reshaping around the front arches. The wheels are my old Pop ones but I think they'll be changed & the body shell will be roof chopped & channelled a couple of inches over the floorpan. The black seats you can see on the ground behind the rolling chassis are fibreglass copies of my Pop ones, available from forum member Madron.
Maybe a bit too much toe-in on those front wheels Archie.

Remember young Tom? He's the guy with the black Chevy pick-up who fitted Cadillac tail lights to it at the workshop a few months ago. This is his XS650 Yamaha. He's entrusted Loony with creating a hardtail frame for it, using the original Yam front cradle. Today Mr L began mocking it up in his home-built frame jig.

Nice tank that!!! ;)

Do you know if Looney got the pressie I left for PD/Ryan the other day? (I seem to have lost Looneys number)

Yes Clive, he did. Very generous of you mate, (lots of lovely pinstriping equipment). Thank you on their behalf. I'm sure young Ryan will be chuffed to bits with that lot.  :)
PD's visiting the workshop tomorrow evening, so will collect it then.

Some mugs about right.

 ;D

Ash brought the drift car back today. He's had vinyl graphics made of his sponsors' logos, so he & Loony spent the afternoon applying them, ready for this weekend's racing.
Loony's resprayed the body -apparently as a killer whale, & added a monotone Union Jack on the roof -hurray for the black, white & grey.

Loony's recently changed his trading name from Lunatic Fringe, because of it's terrorist connotations, to 1:11 customs -which reminds me of 9 11.  :P
He sponsors Ash by repairing & respraying the Supra, so it carries his logo too. 

Andy - Just out of interest, any info on the company that makes the vinyl graphics ?

Since the car is balck, white & grey, just imagine you're seeing it in a 3D B&W TV, kinda modern nostalgia....  ;D

Boss Signs do a lovely job in that line and very reasonably priced too.

http://www.boss-signs.co.uk/

Ive got a professional vinyl cutter to do all that stuff but not used it in about 6 months...think it may be time for a clear out lol...Voodoo....

So what does the 1:11 refer to?

i think its his birthday 11th jan  ;)

IQ? :)

clive thats mmmm funny as feck!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af318/archie_837/e88b8959.jpg)

 :D

I hope that's your VW & not my Pop Archie!  :o

When the cats away Andy.

I've only been away from the workshop for one day! Hope you swept that floor up when you'd finished playing.

Another day, another paintjob.
A tank & 2 sets of mudguards for ...a Triumph TigerCub I think. The guards are for 2 friends. Loony painted one set in maroon with a silver stripe, then was told they were meant to be the other way round. Number One Mate wanted silver with a maroon stripe, but Number Two Mate liked the first set. So they've got opposite paint schemes.
Which do you prefer?

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`kin gorgeous whichever way they`re painted I think  ;D ;D ;D ;D

To go with that tank I prefer the maroon with silver stripe.  Asise from that I like both.

Yeah, I think the maroon looks classier. Apparently that scheme was used on later Bonnies n stuff.
I guess with the guards mounted lower than the tank, it's logical for them to be the colour of the lower part of the tank -silver.

More Tiger Cub stuff, for the same customer.
That's Loony taking the snaps. The neck of one of the tanks needed pulling back into shape with a slide hammer as it had been pushed into the top of the tank.

Black bits too. The headlight shell in particular needed a lot of prep to smooth it out before paint, none of which shows now of course.

With so many parts to hang up to dry, the little Austin A35 van, left by another customer, became a temporary drying oven.

Loony's Dad's just bought a lathe. It's been delivered to the workshop today, so yesterday was spent shuffling various vehicles & piles of scrap, valuable automotive parts around to make room for it. This is Loony's BSA Bantam scrambler. A non runner, it's been buried at the back of the 'shop for ages. The local brit bike expert took a look at it yesterday -apparently it's got some quite desirable bits on it.

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Doug's swedish import V Dub bus has been a feature outside the workshop for as long as I've been there. With the lease up for renewal, the landlords aren't keen on vehicles cluttering up the yard though, so it's been towed round to the side of the 'shop, ready for collection & delivery to Doug.

well there,s one monkey here that would love the rolling frame  ;) ;)

i,ve got an old franny barnett 150 with v5 but it the model where the rear half of the frame is made from ,pressed tin,
and i want to make a period trials bike out of it  ;) :)

could the bus be for sale ???????

Possibly. No idea. All original I believe, but no paperwork for it.

how about the ,bantam, ?

 ;D Not mine Mike! Contact Mr Lunatic.

Forum member Reg's flying circus, Ural bike/sidecar/trailer ensemble. Booked in for an olive drab paintjob on the trailer.

Fellow forumer, SkaMan spends his weekends grass track racing. So does his son Chris. And now so does his grandson Callum. At only 14 years old, he's just bought his own car, (a 1000cc Citroen AX). He'd never driven before but after 2 hours of instruction was soon flying around the local banger track. As a juvenile amateur he has to have a passenger for his first few races. A great way to channel all that youthful energy. Cool kid!
In for some extra roll cage tubing & gussetting.

Mazda RX7 due for a respray. Came in with a rear spoiler the size of a surfboard.

And out of the paint booth again in satin black.

Banded, (widened), steel wheels on a Citroen Saxo, given a coat of very bright Saxo blue & gloss black. Certainly makes 'em stand out.

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Anyone remember Flap's Reliant trike? Put together by Mr Flap & myself many years ago, it was featured in Back Street Heroes magazine & picked up several Best Trike trophies. Sadly though, Flappy Boy no longer has the time to ride it & it's been languishing, sad & forlorn, in the back of Loony's workshop for nearly 3 years now. Eventually he decided to sell & I'm happy to say, it's going to a new home with another forum member.
So Loony & friends have fettled the seized up brakes, bunged in a new battery & plugs & wiped the worst of the paint overspray off that oh so orange powdercoat. Terry T's MOTing his own trike next week, so has volunteered to take the Flapster down to Portsmouth in his van to put a ticket on it too.
Today was the first time I've seen the ol' Flapster move under it's own steam for a couple of years.
Sad to see it go, but Darren needed the money, Loony needed the workshop space & that trike needs to be ridden.
So long old friend.  ;)   

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Wow!! great to see the old trike movin and makin its way to mot,I will be coming down to you in the week all being well to pick her up and bring her to her new home can't wait,its like waiting for xmas already got a planned ride to Nuneaton,Coventry on Friday all being well. ;)

good in-it turn up and help.and they give you a trike.don't even know were i live.  ;D ;D  ;)

terry could you do me a favor and ask your tester if they will mot my atc trike ? as the last place i went to take it said and i quote{ cant mot that mate thats a 3wheeled QUAD !!! }  if they need to know what it is, its a 1985 honda bigred 250es and im only looking at a daylight mot cheers buddy  ;)

this is it

will do Darren.has it had a mot before and been on the road

yeah was moted when i got it and has been registered plg from 1986

Let's hope Terry brings your new toy back again then Dizzy!  ;D
Hasn't been run for several years so could definitely do with a good check over & a few gentle local runs before you start planning that coast to coast road trip. Enjoy!

Yes thats a good point  ;D.........who does the best breakdown recovery service for trikes? think it would be a good idea to get some good cover as there could be some teething problems and the hard shoulder of the m6 can be a lonley place  :D

I spent an entire night stood alone beside a dual carriageway on my way home from Trikefest in Cambridgeshire a few years back. Cylinder head problems. It was a bank holiday weekend & the RAC couldn't find a recovery truck that could pick up the trike. Eventually got home at 7 in the morning.
Amazing how much wildlife you see in the middle of the night though. Sat on the back of my trike & watched wild foxes playing in the middle of the deserted carriageway. That was when I decided to rebuild my Reliant trike -& it's been off the road ever since!
Apart from that one occasion, the RAC have always been pretty good. Also used Green Flag with no problems.

the RAC don't do trike recovery now.i sent them a email as i could not find a trike cover on there website they came back and said they don't cover trikes   ???

Thought it was you that was covered not the vehicle these days. I was a passenger in my mates car and the AA recovered it as i was a member
so surely they cant refuse to recover you if your the member and not the car or trike or bike
 :)

Yep its the member not the vehicle ( although I signed up when I only had the car ) , the RAC got me off the A14 and home a couple of months ago when my prop sheared in half ( just within their 10 miles from home free pickup ....   ;D   ) they sent out a contractor with a flatbed    ...    ;D


  ..  Hagar  ..   ;D

Darren has it all ready got lights and indicators fitted

lights fitted as standard but no indicators, i think thats why it only had a daylight mot. my friend up north has to tape up his lights for mot

ok i will ask him.have you got an old mot certificate and when it last on the road

yeah got the mot from when i bought it that ran out over 2 years ago now, thanks terry your a gem  ;)

sent you a pm

When is the flap booked in for mot,Terry t ? any idea when it will be back at Loony's?  ::) got no patience me  ;D

8am Monday 19Th Sept. don't know when it will be back yet.when do you want it  ;D.
its 51 miles to loonys from my place.i have said to Marcus that as i am working out side if its p----- down with rain i will try and get it back during the week if not it will be Saturday

ok Terry t thats great thanks for sorting the mot can you let me know how she gets on today?   ;D

mot update.well if you want the start of your day to go t-ts up that's OK if it only involves you. but when your doing some one a favor then No.got to the mot station at 7.45 for mots my trike-flaps trike and my van for 8 am at 9.30 still no tester.it looked like he locked up on Saturday put the keys in the letter box and went home no one else there could mot trikes.a mot station open seven day a week that does all classes 1/7 and only one tester no wonder he jacked in  >:( >:(.so phoned around and got it booked in at another garage tomorrow at 8am.to start again

I thought I was the only one who had luck like that Tel!

Looks like the answer is no!

spoke to another tester he said if it will fit on his ramp he will mot it.on a day light mot

so looks like the answer is yes  :P

Or maybe.

we will see  ;D

fingers crossed lol  :o

you can un cross them now. it will fit on the ramp and he said he will mot it on a day light mot and just give you an advisory note on lights and indicators  :) :)

whoop whoop !!! thanks terry  :) best pull my finger out and do the headstock bearings and fix the horn  ;D

and my trike passed with no advisorys  :) :)

Just out of interest - if it's a daylight MOT why does it need an advisory note on lights?   ??? ???

as it got lights fitted they have to be taped up.or have indicators fitted.so the advisory stops it being sold with a full mot

Any news on the flapster today?

hasn't Marcus told you
 

Don't tease the man -& the rest of us, Terry!

dint Marcus tell you :)

i have already told DIZZY.so i can let you know now
it passed with one advisory no mudguard fitted

He did -I'm only pretending to be stoopid -honest.
Hurrah! Not bad considering it hasn't turned a wheel for 2 or 3 years.

I wana ride me trike now  ::)   ::)   ::)

Is it here yet?   ;D

 ;D In all of this, we haven't seen Flap at the workshop once -he texted me to say the Flapster was for sale, so I posted an ad here, you contacted Loony to arrange the pre MOT work & Terry's sorted the MOT.
It was actually for sale wasn't it?!

mmmmmmm good point ,good question I bloody hope so ive booked me plane ticket down to you now  ;D

i was hoping that i,d be able to buy it in the near future just been to busy and waiting for the half million the bloke bid on ,wonderland emporium ;)

I think Terry t has taken flapster back to loonys today so i will be making arrangments to pick up this week.....like a kid at christmas i cant wait  :D  :D

the flapster is now back at loonys workshop. when you get it dizzy ride it and enjoy it.  :)

Many thanks Terry obviously youve gone out of your way to get the mot and id like to say how gratefull i am for your massive help

Thanks again youre a star  :-*  ;D

Driving down to Loonys work shop Sunday morning to pick up me new trike  ;D

Jayne,my wife,asked me last night "Can i come with you Sunday to pick up MY trike? " ........eh? wot? she reckons that cos ive got a bike license,i can ride the bikes leavin the trike for her !! does love stretch that far?  ..........mmmmmmm  i duno,watch this space lol  ;)

looks like flapsters got a new owner  ;) ;)

Ya cant have nowt for long these days ,can ya?  :'(

thats what they call love   ::)

What sort of time you planning on being there Dizz? I'll be over from Surrey to work on my truck, so ought to make the effort to say Hello.  :)

Hi Mr Manky sir,we are planning on being at loonys for 9.00/9.30am ish would be great to see ya but its a bit early i know  ::)

9.0.clock?! On a Sunday?!
-O.K, see you there.  ;)
Loony & his Mum spent the entire day cleaning 3 years worth of workshop crud off the trike today & polishing most of it till it gleamed.
After we've all been moaning about it being in the way for so long, it'll be sad to see it finally go. Last chance for a quick blat around the yard.
Hope it brings you many miles of smiles mate.  ;D

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Still looks good after all these years  ::) ::)

Yeah, you wouldn't believe he's 30 now would you.
...oh, you mean the trike.  :P

Big Darren's "Big Red" off road trike. One of his collection.
VW behind it's in for a bit of welding.

Alot of welding more like!

HAS SHE GOT ,,TIN,,,,WORM,,,

Only in 'er bottom bits!  :o

Thats not the one thats road legal. the big red honda 250cc  ???

Yeah, the big red is his road legal one. Its not rotten though, thats the beetle.

ok i see now  ;D

Rotten? But it looks so pretty!

so did my discovery ,,,(the one we came down to basingstoke in)

Mild steel inlet manifold, made up by a customer & brought in for welding.
The carbs are off a Yamaha R1 motorcycle and are going on a mk1 VW Golf with a 2.0 litre 16 valve engine.  :P

Drastically lowered VW Caddy pick-up, in to have a body kit fitted, (new wheel arches & front spoiler), then a re-spray in beige.

Chris's newly acquired V6 Reliant Scimitar. He's stripping it to salvage the chassis, which he plans to sit under a V8 engined Morris Minor. The engine will be up for sale & the body's being scrapped, so speak up quick if you want anything off it.
Terry T, Chris & Lunatic.

that looks like the one i was watchin,  on ,evil,, bay  :)

Bought locally in Basingstoke, Hants.

Would you let these guys work on your car?  :P

No! ;)

them body shells a worth good money ,,complete,, ::) ::)

wouldn't trust em ,it only came in for an oil change

and i bet they kept the ,old oil , ::) ::)

I've changed my mind, I'm going to restore it inste... oh.

and i thought they were meant to keep the yard ,,tidy,  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

They have. It's in one nice big tidy heap.  :P

I was in the RSSOC (Reliant Scimitar and Sabre Owners Club) in the early 1980s as had a SE6.

Ever since I was a wee lad in short trousers at primary school back in 1968, I knew I wanted a Scimitar from the day I saw the first pictures of the SE5a (the car in the photo) in a copy of CCC.

CCC = Cars and Car Conversions magazine - the mag at the time for actually doing things and way before Custom Car and many of the others hit the shelves. In fact I used to save my pocket money and buy Hot Rod (an American Magazine) as it had cool Hot Rod (doh!) stuff in it.

Back to the plot...... Was tempted to buy a Lancia HPE2000 as couldn't afford a Scimitar, but eventually got my SE6 after weighing up the virtues of the SE5 Vs SE6 .........
So why didn't I keep it?  - had to sell it when split up as had to sort the mortgage etc - ended up with a Ford Escort 1.6 (yay!!)

So, if any of you have had a dream car from when you were in primary school and kept the dream alive until you could afford it 15 years later, just imagine seeing it being cut to pieces............ makes me a sad bunny......  :'(

Wouldn't surprise me if body shell wouldn't have made a few quid, unless it has 'tin worm' !! ;)

Nothing to do with me Tony -I haven't touched it, honest. I know it seems a shame, but this one was pretty much beyond saving I'm afraid. The fibreglass had started to de-laminate after being stood, untouched, in a garden for several years.

Scottie the hotrod haulier's found a buyer for the V6 engine & gearbox, & has arranged to collect it tomorrow. So Chris & Loony had to spend the afternoon taking the Skimmytar down to chassis level & hoiking the motor out. The money from the engine & box covers the cost of the car & Scottie's recovery fee, with a little change left over. So Chris has basically got a new chassis, suspension & steering for his V8 Moggy Minor project for free.

.

That's the way to do it, it makes you feel good when major components end up being free after all the car had to be stripped any way. :)

I felt chuffed when an old boy just gave me a complete reliant robin for nothing just for showing him some interest and for talking to him

Oh yes!  Back in nineteeen hundred and frozen-to-death me and my then hubby had a  copy of CCC open on the kitchen table as we crossflowed the head on our 1600E!

Scottie collected the V6 engine today & delivered it to it's new owner. Tomorrow he'll be back with the cash for it & to collect the wheels for his race car that Loony's just sprayed.
Another ongoing job. A young local lad wanted his Citroen Saxo smoothed out so Mr L's removed the number plate recess from the tailgate & welded in a filler panel, then added another into the bumper. He's also removed the door handles & badges. A bit of filling & sanding -O.K, a lot of filling & sanding, & you'd never know it didn't leave the factory like this. Check the reflection in the tailgate to see how ripple free it is. Just needs some cutting & buffing & it's ready for collection.

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1600E.............. my first four wheeler !! Great car. ;D

It was our first engine project - he later got a rep for building engines that didn't break so there were lots more!  Back in our rallying days.  When if I get the scanner working I'll upload a phot of the rally car.

Weekends seem to be party time at the workshop -which is fair enough as Loony's there more or less 7 days a week.
Saturday saw at least a dozen people rolling in to work on various projects.

Terry's Goldwing trike.

Nick's race prepped VW Golf.

Sunday was quieter, but a lovely warm Spring day -perfect for tinkering.
Chris has stripped his Scimitar down to the chassis.

Tom's Chevy truck.
He also owns an XS650 Yamaha, which Loony's currently hardtailing.

Does the workshop owner actually make money??? ;D....seem to be a lot of people milling about working on their cars !!

wish I lived closer mate  :'( :'( looks like a cool way to waste spend a saturday  :'(

 :D You know you'd be welcome Shaun.
I'm one of those milling about types, but I do pay rent for my workshop space.  :)

The Scimitar chassis, stripped of all unwanted parts. The wheelbase is over a foot longer than the Moggy Minor, so the plan is to cut n shut it -take a chunk out of the middle & weld it back together.

VW Caddy pick-up.
New wheels means new arches needed. Due to be resprayed beige.

Aluminium fuel tank for a Silk motorcycle. The stripes are painted but the lettering decals are old stock original.
The bike will hopefully be on show at a local bike meet at Popham airfield, Hampshire next weekend.

What's on at Popham then?  The mega meet's not till August....

7th of May, (Bank Holiday Monday).
Aero/Autojumble & Classic Vehicle Rally & Fly-in.

Popham Airfield, A303, between Basingstoke & Winchester, Hants (http://www.popham-airfield.co.uk/Events.htm)

That accoiunts for it - I was looking for bike events!

The airfield manager's a biker -can't remember his name off the top of my head - maybe that's why they hold so many bike events there. He emailed me a couple of times last year, talking about setting up a combined hotrods & custom bikes weekend show there. Haven't heard any more for a while.

Dick someone - Johnson?  Nice bloke.

Remember Chris's Moggy Minor project? The one he plans to run on a Reliant Scimitar chassis? The frame was about 10 inches too long, but after breaking his collar bone, Chris had to take it easy for a while, so after a bit of time off, a couple of days ago Loony & he chopped it clean in half, across the middle, which was the narrowest point, removed the excess length & spliced it back together.
Looks kinda funky so short, especially with the new, larger sized rear tyres on the original Scimitar rims.

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That looks like its going to be a whole heap of fun.
Mr.M you say:

Loony & Chris chopped it clean in half, across the middle, which was the narrowest point, removed the excess length & spliced it back together.

Like its the most natural thing in the world, I'd be afraid that I'd cut in the wrong places then spend hours and hours crying :'( :'(
The boys have got a lotta bottle.

 ;D
There was a lot of discussion about building jigs & where to cut, but in the end they decided to stop talking & just go for it.
A bit like us when we chopped my Pop bodyshell in half -Loony & I stood there for ages worrying whether we should do it & how & where to cut. In the end my missus, Taz, said "Oh for Gawd's sake, give it to me", grabbed the disc cutter & laid into it. "There ya go, now get on with it".
Sometimes the best way to do it.  ;D

Another day, another job.
Forum member ByzMax arrived at the 'shop today with a VW "Beach Bastard" trike.
Quick history lesson for the non bikers:
Half bodied VW trikes have been around in the States since the 60s, but it was Chris Ireland of "Desperate Dan's" trike shop, who introduced the British to them with the project he built for Back Street Heroes magazine & christened "Beach Bastard" after the V Dub beach buggies. Since then, it's become a generic name for any such trike.
Iain, (Byz), built this one for himself a few years ago, but it's been through a couple of owners since then. The latest took it back to Iain for a rebuild -which is where Loony comes in. Some repairs that need smoothing out, some filler that needs re-doing, then a fresh coat of paint. Red I believe. 
Good to see you Iain.  ;) 

Nik & Loony set to work with the angle grinders to flap wheel the welds down smooth.

Nik's own project -a race prepped VW Golf, in for a roll cage, various repairs & a paintjob. Currently having it's sunroof replaced with sheet steel.

This one's been in for a while. A Bedford truck. The owner plans to take it to the Dorset Steam Fair in a couple of months, before which Loony has to completely repaint it. Easy.

i shure loony can do that in a saturday afternoon,, ::) ::) after all i used to do a 12 metre coach in a day  :o :o

Ahh, but that was in the days before metres went metric Mike.

yeah,, and back in the days when i was still fit,,,

Chris's Reliant Scimitar chassis'd Morris Minor again.
The Rover V8 & manual gearbox used to be Loony's. The carbs used to be mine.

Test fitting the Moggy bodywork to see how much it needs to be altered to fit the Scimitar -actually, not a lot.

Gonna be pretty funky.

Early split screen Moggy by the way. Rover motor looks right at home in there.

Time to go cruisin'.

wish i had a v8 :'( ive only got a crappy straight 6 and no moggie to put it in, the bmw its in is about fooked but with 180k on it the 200bhp motor still goes like stink . wonder if it would fit in the donner reliant rialto  ::) ::) :) ;)

I love that Moggie, but what will the "Purist-Police" say about your treatment of a 'Split-screen' and more to the point do you care!! I think not, viva la differance and all that, what...................Morrag

Chris, (in the white T shirt), was telling me today how hard it is to find those splitty front grilles. He's had this one carefully stowed away until today. Just because you do something different with a classic, doesn't mean you don't appreciate it's heritage.  :) The donor car was completely rotten from the sills down, so was destined for the scrap heap. This way it'll live again, though maybe not quite as Isigonis intended!

i've always said, if you want to restore it, YOU should have bought it

Very true Ben.

If all this classic stuff was that good it would still be in production now. I like to see classic stuff as something a bit different and to appreciate the simplicity. If you want to stick a V12 in an Issetta or anything else then great it will be even more unusual (would like to see someone fit that though :) ) Different is what is good don't matter if its old or new, as said once you bought it you get to decide :)

Chris is still shuffling parts around, but looks like it'll fit quite nicely -makes you wonder why Morris didn't fit 'em with V8s!
The Rover's sump is stepped so that it's shallow at the front & deeper at the back. By lifting the engine a little, the steering rack passes neatly underneath. Fortunately the Moggy's bonnet's tall enough for that, though the carb/air cleaner might need some thinking about. The plan is to build a "sleeper" -a car that looks bog standard & unassuming from the outside, but leaves 'em standing at the traffic lights. An automotive wolf in sheep's clothing.

Chris managed to pick up a second Rover V8 last week, which came with the more desirable short water pump, which gives more clearance for the radiator. He's not using the power steering pump, so will probably re-site the alternator from it's normal position, up high on the left of the engine, to down low on the right where the P/S pump used to be -same as I've done on my truck, using a Pop Browns bracket.

A long standing job, due for painting in the next week or so. A Bedford truck. Chassis will be heavy duty gloss black, with pale yellow cab.

Saturdays are always busy at Chez Loony. Everyone brings their own vehicles down to work on.
Today's selection included:
Nick, fitting a rollcage in his VW Golf track car.
Chris, trial fitting the body panels on his Morris Minor.
James of the Piston Heads website, fitting new coil over shock absorbers on his Mazda MX5.
Me cutting a new floor panel for my Ford Pop truck.

More progress on Chris's Moggy Minor -about time you started your own build thread mate.
A local breakdown/recovery guy, who happens to be a collector of old Fords, delivered the 4 door split screen bodyshell to Loony's workshop yesterday.
With it propped in place over the Reliant Scimitar chassis, Chris could start cutting away metal until it dropped into place.

Love that gasser stance!

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With the front of the body hung from an engine hoist, Chris could raise & lower it as he cut away the inner wings. Getting there.

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Considering the shortened Scimitar chassis was a bit of an educated guess, it marries up with the bodyshell amazingly well.

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this is gonna be such a cool motor when its done, keep the pics coming somebody :P ;)

I agree

You seen the film Real Steel? Reason I ask is the truck Hugh Jackman drives lookes like that Bedford truck cab grafted on to something a lot newer and bigger. I liked the look of it

Found a pic but not that good

It do don't it. Haven't seen that one.

Methinks you need to make one Andy

GMC,, i think ,,so that would explain why it looks bedford-ish  ;)

The Bedford truck's finally gone as the owner wants it ready for the Dorset Steam Fair at the end of the month. Loony's still painting bits & pieces for it, but the main rolling chassis has gone, which frees up some space in the workshop. My Pop's been outside, under a tarpaulin for a couple of weeks, so now it's back in the dry.
Pick-ups a go go.

Chris brought one of the Moggy Minor rear wings over to try in place. I'm amazed how well the Reliant Scimitar chassis & wheels fit under the body, though he wants to drop one size on the rear wheels to give a better choice of tyres, & drop the body another inch or two but keeping the current slightly nose down stance.

The remote gearchange will be shortened a tad, but the engine & 'box fit pretty well.

The truck was back again today for the final bits & pieces to be added. The owner's fitted all the lights, badges etc, plus the interior.
It originally came in for a quick respray & tart up, but Loony ended up rebuilding the bottom 8 inches of the cab cos it'd rotted away.
Must say, it looks like a completely different truck now.

Tom's XS650 Yam. In for hardtailin' & choppin'.

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Big Darren called in on his new Kwacka. Big bloke, small bike -he looks like he's shoved a kid off one of those rides outside a shop & got on it himself  ;D
Very nice mate.
Stood next to Loony's Triumph Speed Triple. Seems to be a bit of a green theme developing at the shop lately.

.

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But the Kwak is greener!

Very true, but the Trumpet has a gold sheen to it so it glows in the sunlight.

Loony's been playing with the XS again. Tom hasn't been down to the 'shop for a while, so in his absence, Loony's kinda building it his way.
A change of bars & an old oil tank stood on end as a possible combined battery & electrics box.

The VW Caddy, now in beige.

Chris has bought a pair of universal fitting Rover V8 engine mounts from Pop Browns, so has spent the day setting the chassis up at it's proper ride height, then shuffling the engine around until it's central etc, then trimming the mounts to suit, ready for Loony to weld them in place. 

.

Chris working on his Rover engined, Reliant Scimitar chassised Morris Minor.
Loony replacing the A panels on a Mini.
Nick making seat mounts for his race prepped VW Golf.
Me bleeding the brakes on my Rover engined Ford Pop.

dont like the bonnet scoop on the vw golf ::) :)

 ;D We said exactly the same thing!

you guy's going to be there thursday afternoon next week?? I have a free day and the wifey's car so plan to come down to collect those moggy wheels and my Pop's new rear lights.... ;D ;D going to bring a mate with me... he needs to see more hotrod/trike/bike fab in the flesh..

Aye, We'll be there. Remind me about the wheels beforehand though.  ;)
Fresh blood? Harr, ha, ha!!

Shaun & his mate came to see us a few days ago & we compared notes on our Pop pick-up projects. Good to see you buddy.  ;)
The 'shop's been busy lately. Loony's picking up more jobs now, but there also seems to be more mates around at weekends, working on their own projects.
Chris has rebuilt the framework above the rear axle of his Reliant Scimitar chassised Morris Minor, as well as adding strengthening plates either side of the centre section, where the chassis was cut & shortened. The plan is to drop the standard 4 door splitscreen body over the top of this to create a "sleeper" -a standard looking old car with a big ol' motor hiding under the bonnet. The 3 1/2 litre V8 looks suprisingly at home in a chassis that originally held a V6.

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Chris working on the back end again this evening.
Gearbox mounts are in. Looking very professional.

What will Chris have to do to get it on the road Andy?  registration wise.

Reliant Scimitar chassis. They had seperate chassis & bodies, unlike modern monocoque cars. Technically it's a rebodied Scimitar, which you're allowed to do & keep the original registration. Depends how many changes he makes along the way. If it gets too modified it'll need BIVAing.

you can do that here in west oz but you cant change the chassis.
still needs inspection tho

You can add mounts & outriggers to the original chassis, providing they don't compromise the structual integrity of the original, but you're not allowed to cut bits off.
Most of the work on the back end is just repairing rust damage. A heavy coat of black chassis paint slapped on to ward off new rust until the chassis is eventually shotblasted & powder-coated.

Flipped over on it's side to fully weld everything.

Engine & gearbox back in, (my XS650 Yamaha project in the foreground).

Contemplating lifting the body back on. At this point it was actually almost pitch black, so Tom, Chris, Loony & I were working by the headlights of Chris's truck.

Body propped in place & rolled back into the 'shop. I headed for home then, but Chris planned to work on for a while, so I've no doubt it'll be almost finished by tomorrow!

Arty workshop shot.
My Pop pick-up & Chris's split screen Morris Minor saloon, both running 3 1/2 litre Rover V8s. Mine's an auto. His is a manual.

Am I missing something Andy, why is it called a split screen, looks like it takes a single bit of glass?

just the middle bar missing ,,

So doesn't that just make it a normal Morris Minor or are there other differences?

the split screen version had two flat screens  and a vertical bar in the centre the roof is a v shape and the scuttle panel is a v shape

Yeah, there's a slight peak in the centre of the roofline above the screen & a corresponding one on the scuttle panel below the screen, (you can see the top one in the last 2 photos, as the light shines across it). Rather than a one piece curved glass screen, it's two seperate pieces of flat glass with a centre glazing bar between them.

Ah right that makes sense. Seemed storage if you were making what I assume is a rarer two screen into a more common single. Thought you had cut a centre bare out and done away with it :)

"Storage"? I assume you mean sacrilege?  :)
Chris wants to keep the car looking as original as possible so all standard trim will be going back on.
A couple of shots from this afternoon. The body needs to sit a tad further forward to centralise the wheels in the arches, but very nearly there. There was no chance of the bonnet being cut about, but fortunately it clears the twin SU carbs by about 3 inches. The box section frame behind the engine is just part of the temporaray bracing for the bodywork. The wheel arches may need their outer lips rolling very slightly, (flaring to cover the tyre tread), but I'm amazed how well this all sits. Everything seems to drop into place quite nicely.

"1.Eleven" sprayed on the wing is Loony's business name, 1.Eleven Customs.

I like the look of this project,the moggy has got a good shape for a custom

Lovely curves ain't they.

I couldn't agree more, i even think a bench seat would suit this style of car,just for something diffrent inside

im with merv on the looks. i love moggies and maybe one day ile be in a position to put a v8 in one.
 the name is to let all know whats in his work shop
1 of his projects
11 of mankys :D

i think it sits really well.

 ;D
Chris brought over the exhaust system from the Reliant Scimitar that donated it's chassis today. Amazingly, it fits almost perfectly under the Moggy body. So there'll be twin tailpipes tucked up under the rear bumper.

Err yes Andy, storage was what my iPad decided I meant and I didnt notice until after I had posted. At least using the iPad my typo's are becoming legit words instead of gibberish :)

I like it as well, looks right. I am getting these strange urges to get a P5/P6 Rover or an old Humber or such like, do you think its to do with my age?


:)

Nah -Loony's just bought a 1947 Rover P2 & he's only in his 30s.

Why does that not surprise me and i don't mean his age :)

andy, how close is moggy to scimitar wheel base, track etc?

cheers chris.

The Scimtar chassis is 10" longer. Width seems to be spot on.

Having welded a fill-in patch in place of the sunroof in Nick's VW Golf circuit racer, (apparently sunroofs aren't allowed in the regulations), he wasn't happy with the results. So he opted to buy a complete new roof section, moulded in fibreglass. I had no idea you could even buy such a thing. Fit & finish look pretty good & it's amazing how light it is compared to the original steel. With the original roof cut out, the new one simply sits into the gutter rails & is bonded in place. Simple as that, though Nick's worried it'll put him into a different race class for modified cars. 

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Meanwhile, Loony's been shortening a pair of exhaust cans for Big Darren's Kawasaki. Lookin' nice.

Loony's hat stand. Pinstriped helmet for general welding, carbon fibre look for boy racer hatchbacks & flames for hotrods only.

Chris drops into the workshop for a couple of hours after work every afternoon & has most of the chassis outriggers in place on his Moggy now.
He cut the bulkhead out to get the engine in, but now wants to replace as much of it as he can to keep the car looking original. So he's welded in the top section, but the lower part will be removable, held with Deuz fasteners, for engine removal.

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He had to notch the bulkhead corners to clear the engine rocker covers, but built them up with weld, then spent a whole day sat at the bench with a Dremmel drill, grinding the radiused corners. It's all about the details.

like this project, a proper poseur killer.looks neat

Yeah, I think he's going hunting for kids in hatchbacks when it's finished. Should be on show on our pitch at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport in May, at whatever stage it's at by then.

Chris's Moggy today. It's a split screen -the windscreen's made up of 2 pieces of flat glass, held in the middle with a bolt-in glazing bar.
The top half of the original bulkhead's been welded back in. The bottom half will be removable.
Engine & 'box are now securely mounted & Chris is working on routing the steering linking rods, from the column, down to the rack, via a couple of mark 1 Ford Escort universal joints. Clearance is tight, but should work.

Meanwhile, Nick has been working on his track day VW Golf. It'll have a roll cage & brace bars across the suspension tops, front & back, plus the steel panels will be lightened as much as possible -he's removed the inner skin from the tailgate for example, which makes it suprisingly light.
This car originally had a sunroof, which isn't allowed under race regulations. After welding in a filler panel, which distorted the roofline, he decided to go mad, cut the entire roof out & replace it with a fibreglass copy.
Here, Chris squirts on the bonding mastic, watched by Nick, before they & Loony clamp the new roof panel in place.

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So you can't have a sunroof but you can have a fibreglass one, where's the logic there?

Also, how long did it take you to photoshop out all the snow? :)

I like this thread, wish I was close it would make a change from watching the telly

Come on down -or up? Kettle's always luke warm.
I think the sunroof ruling is to prevent drivers from being thrown through it/losing arms through it etc, in the event of an accident.
Loony does a lot of "bread & butter" jobs -every day stuff like the pair of plastic bumpers from a Mazda he's got to repair & respray. But weekends tend to be project time, when various mates show up to work on their cars. Mr Loon's at the 'shop more or less 7 days a week, so this is his social life as well as his job.
Had a visit this afternoon from Old Newbie, who lives nearby.   
We had rain here the night before last, which magically washed away the snow overnight. Now it's just muddy & slushy everywhere. Bring back the snow!

loving the morris, thumbs up from me.

Chris wants to keep it as original as he can. He's been experimenting with pedals today. We've got a couple of sets from various cars knocking about but none seem quite right. He could buy an aftermarket/rally set but they'd look wrong in a 1950s car. It's all about the details.

thats why we re-used the pedals in the minx(plus i'm a tight arse!!!)

 ;D

Yep that Morris is my kind of car. 8)

I'll tell Chris you lot like it when I see him tomorrow. He'll be dead chuffed.

you guy's around the workshop Sunday?? got to go to Andover to pickup some Hotrod parts so thought i would call in on my way back...

i expect so mate.

thats what happened to the train spotter when he got run over by a steam train,,,, ::) ::) ::)

 :D
whatcha buying Shuan?
Lots to do on my Pop if you fancy getting your hands dirty!

I purchased a complete Y front axle and I mean complete  ;D for £5 on ebay, got to pick it up from Andover Sunday...

I saw that and nearly bid on it for possible future use but storage is a problem. Glad it's gone to a good home. There was also a pair of doors

 ;D  ;)

For a minute there I thought you said you'd purchased a complete pair of Y fronts.
Was that from the guy who seemed to be selling a complete Model Y in pieces?

Chris's Moggy with the bonnet fitted. Knowing how tiny the original motor was in my old Moggies, (no bigger than a Reliant), I'm amazed you can shoe-horn a V8 in there & still shut the lid.

even in that condition theres something about that moggy
I'm lost for words,i just like to have it myself

Me to. 8)

Yes but with the old Moggie (I had one as my second car, very posh after the Pop) you could get in the engine bay alongside the engine.  Infact you could probably get one person each side!

The reason the engine bay is so "roomy" is that the post war saloon body was to have had a completely new flat 4 motor,purpose designed and built for this then new model, but whether the company ran out of cash or time, or both! to achieve that, I don't know, but as you all know, they ended up using what was available, the little pre-war side valve motor, as used in the Morris 8, and then on to the two OHV motors later, so hence all the room! well that's the story I was told many years ago, and it seems to fit!! so..... ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

modified ,jowett,  ;) from a twin to a four  ;) ;)

Jowett's a 4, mate has just picked one up  ;)

got to say my personal fav Moggy  8) 8) 8) :-*

my interpretation would use a 4 door shell.. sit in the back seat, weld up the front doors and run a blown Jag straight 6...

Pre 1936 Jowett 7hp flat twin, there after flat 4.

ahh, thankyou sir  ;D

They weren't going to use a Jowett mill, but a completely newly designed jobbie, but time and money I suppose...................

Another day, another workshop.
Not Loony's today, but Oje's, (Owen James). He runs a one man rod shop, just up the road in Newbury, Berkshire.
Loony bought a car from him today, so I took a couple of snaps of his motors while we were there.
This is his almost daily driver.
A roof chopped Volvo Amazon saloon. Chopped by 5 inches, with the door pillars & rear screen leant forward. He's also done a lot of work around the bonnet & added a Mercury grille insert, (I think). otherwise, it's more or less stock. He caused quite a stir last Summer when he turned up at the Hotrod Hayride in it as a work in progress, with the bonnet in shiney bare metal. It's obviously weathered a bit since then, but it's definitely not for sale & will just be worked on as & when he feels like it. I love it.

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Stood next to it was this "Volksrod". Up for sale for 2 1/2 grand at the moment if you fancy it.

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That Volvo is gorgeous. Why don't nobody do em in auto box

I've got an auto on my Rover V8. I'm sure that'd fit in the Amazon engine bay.

Yes I do!!!!!

Cheater!!!

Defintaley one of the nicer ones out there - had a few pokes around it, and its pretty good. Gearbox raise, skinnier backs and job done

Back to Loonyville & Chris has been quietly working away at the steering on his Moggy. Just one more section to weld now, but the recent heavy rain's stopped him getting outside to do it.
So today's indoor job was making a box to hold the original Moggy Minor pedals. These will be modified to operate the Reliant Scimitar brakes & Rover P6 clutch. The finished box will be welded into the floorpan.
About time we started a seperate thread for this build Chris.

that volvo looks stunning the front grill just sets it of nicely


andy question

when it gets to a rusty finish that they like
do they put a lacquer on it to preserve it or do they just leave it to the elements

That one's just left "as is", cos he's still working on it.
I plan to wire wheel my truck back to bare metal for the Summer, partly to show off the fact that it's all steel, not body filler, partly cos it's several different colours at the moment & it'd be nice to have a uniform look & partly so that if/when anything breaks or needs altering in it's first few "shake down" runs, we can repair it without damaging the final paint. We'll clean it up for proper paint over next Winter.
There are various waxes & oils you can rub into the metal to protect it -the VW boys seem keen on that "patina" look at the moment. Loony's mentioned "Anchor Wax". I thought that was a pseudnym for something else, but apparently it's just what it says on the tin.
The trouble with waxes is they leave a residue on the metal that needs completely removing before you can paint. We plan to just spray the entire truck in a coat of matt clear lacquer as that can be rubbed back or cleaned off with thinners when we're ready for the final green paint.

chears andy saw them in the states and always thoought due to hardly any rain over there they wouild be fine
but there is more and more up here now with the same look that would last long under the elements
laid that one to rest   

Ive all ways known them as oily rag rats,, just wipe with an oily  rag to keep that way but the wax sounds like a plan though
Must admit I like it on bikes trikes and cars

lacquer is the way to go andy, but you'd have to work quick as rust will take hold over night if doing it over a couple of days!!!!

Loony must have rust in his veins I think. I can handle bare metal all day & it'll stay shiny. He only has to hold a piece of fresh steel & the next day it'll be rusty. Sometimes you can actually see his finger marks in it. I guess he's just more acidic than me.

or works harder so sweats more  ;) :D :P

lol

Yeah, that must be it.  :P

Tatty, half built Volksrod, (hotrodded VW Beetle). Fitted with full length roll back sunroof. Looks to be roofchopped using the original roof panel, rather than the more usual method of splicing 2 roof skins together, so the sides of the body have been pulled in to meet it, giving it unusual proportions.
The guy who bought it wants it as a rolling advert for the custom seats he plans to sell.
Appeared at the workshop a couple of weeks ago, supposedly just for a quick paintjob. That soon turned into a major body rework though. It had to be ready to take to a show in Telford, Shropshire today.

And here it is, just about to be loaded onto a trailer bound for Telford.
Loony's been working his socks off on this one, putting in several weeks of late nights, with almost everyone who visits the 'shop getting involved at some point. He & Nick spent an entire week filling & rubbing down the bodywork & were still working on it less than 24 hours ago.
Having drowned it in all the paint he had, Loony finally crawled home to sleep at tea time yesterday, leaving 8 of us to bolt as much together as we could. I had to leave at 10.30 as I had to go to work this morning, but Chris was still there at 2.30 in the morning.
Pig's ear into silk purse? Not a huge fan of Volkrods myself, (don't really get the whole VW scene), but I have to admit, it's a million times better than it was a couple of weeks ago.

Replacement bonnet's from an earlier model & longer than the old one. There wasn't enough paint or time to finish it, so it's been bead blasted for now.
The owner spent nearly 3 grand on a SuperBell dropped beam axle kit with transverse spring & Willwood disc brakes on special CNC machined aluminium hubs. The wheels are rebuilt BBSs with crossply tyres. The axle kit came with mounts for the 7" King Bee headlamps.

Rebuilt motor will be covered by the original "bootlid" once it's painted. Filler neck for the new cylindrical fuel tank exits through the rear quarter panel.

Original door handles have been removed & push buttons added. Personally I don't understand why the owner wanted the handle recesses left, but it's not my car.
Seats are fibreglass copies taken from my own, (reproduction Austin 7 bases). Moulded by forumer Madron.

"Hairpin" locating arms attach via rose joints to new brackets that bolt to the original bodywork. All part of the axle kit. Would've been nice if it came with instructions -much late night head scratching before we had it figured out. 

Obviously still a lot to do, but huge amounts of work & time from a lot of people have gone into this over the last couple of weeks.
As I said, not really my thing, but it's barely recognisable now from the ugly bug that arrived. Well done Mr Loon.

i wouldn,t like to pay for the hours thats taken  :o

looks much better with different wheels but i dont like the hair pin front wheel suspension even though the whee position looks far better

Amazing change from when I saw it yesterday.
Well done to all involved. Especially Loony and Nick who have spent so much time sorting the body.

Did you pick up your MMMotors T shirt Dave?
VWs in general just don't do anything for me at all, but the "Volksrod" style divides opinion more than most -you either love 'em or hate 'em.

Sure did. Thanks Andy. I will pop round with the dosh.
Didn't want it left in the workshop while Loony was throwing paint about  ;D
Know what you mean about the VW & Volksrods scene, not for me but I can appreciate the engineering and time that goes into some of them, and this one has had a lot of time thats for sure.

Looks a lot better than it did but maybe just proves you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear............

Must admit a big improvement but still not my cup of tea

like it a lot, but needs wires imo.
nice work everyone involved.

Definitely needs wires
 and a battery and lights and......... ;D

vast improvement.. cool looking car now.. top job chaps  8) 8)

Chris, ("Forgotten" here on the forum)'s Rover V8 engined, split screen Moggy Minor saloon.
Chris is making new sills from scratch for this at the moment -a long & tedious task. Today he hung 2 of the doors in place to check everything still fits. It do.

Tom's hardtailed XS650 Yamaha. This has been on the back burner for a long time, but finally given a fresh coat of looking at this week.
Tom's been de-lugging the yokes & making a few brackets, while Mr Loon's finished the hardtail he started a while ago. He's made an interesting "I beam" section for the base of the rear engine cradle tube. They plan to make several more in the same style for the frame, including the brace under the headstock. I like it.

.

Chris's Moggy again, next to my Pop. Bootlid & front wing sat in place to check the fit -& just to see how it all sits.
I like the slightly 70s stance. He's toying with the idea of fitting marginally wider rear tyres, which would also be a little taller & fill the arches more. Looking good.

Why did I feel the need to stick the doors closed with white duck tape!!

 ;D I did think about Photoshopping it out!

Love this Motor. 8)

yeah its giving me ideas

Many Moggies down your end of the planet Ben?

Bet there are moggies all over the world!

cuckin fats, :D get everywhere,

yeah they are abundant enough.
dont need any more distractions though!

whats going on andy?

What's a happenin' down at the yard?
Just business as usual at the moment. The Volksrod's back in for a final coat of paint -the owner took it to a show on a trailer & managed to damage the paint on several panels. Mr Loon's decided it's easier to cut the lot back & blow it over again, rather than mask up individual panels.
There's also a VW Caddy pick-up in for some bodywork repairs, & a few other odds & ends.
Chris is experimenting with flywheels & clutches for his Moggy Minor. Not quite sure, but I think he's mating a Rover P6 manual gearbox to an SD1 engine.
And I'm tracking down the cause of the bent pushrods in my Pop engine. I've also filed back the welds on one of my bike exhausts, ready to refit to make a hanging bracket.

great, sounds busy.

Yeah, busy but not a lot to photograph really. I'll keep you updated though.

Still cleaning up my XS650 Yam' exhausts.
I bought another motor yesterday. Picked it up on Ebay for 250 quid, (usually sell for around the 400 quid mark). Just got it on spec, for spares or whatever, but Mr Loon has expressed an interest in it. So the workshop XS groovy gang could soon have another member, (already 2 there, Tom's & mine, plus Archie's in another workshop a couple of miles away).
Unfortunately it was in Liverpool & collection only. So I nipped up there after work yesterday -4 hours driving each way & 30 quids worth of diesel. Got home at half past midnight. Good job I enjoy road trips.

Tom's XS650, mine & Loony's Triumph Speed Triple. Used to be mine & has been at the workshop for a couple of years now, waiting for Loony to pass his bike test. Sell the Triumph, pay for your test & use the change to build the XS mate.  ;)

The Volksrod, rubbed down & ready for a respray. It normally rolls on very expensive tall, skinny BBS wheels & crossply tyres.

would love a volksrod, closest thing i'd be able to afford that looks like a rod at moment(getting the itch for one)

Yeah, I can see the attraction, though the whole V Dub scene doesn't really do it for me. Maybe a similar stance but Morris Minor instead of VW?
Loony, Chris & I were at the workshop this afternoon when Big Darren & Al called in for a chat & a cold drink on their way to the local evening bike meet. As we were all stood outside in the sunshine Al noticed we seemed to have suffered a collective sartorial faux pas. We looked down & realised all 5 of us were resplendant in black MMMotors T shirts! Damn that brand has a good sales manager!  :) 

Manky Money Monkey strikes again.

It's really about time Tom's XS650 had it's own thread. After a bit of a lapse, it's now being worked on again, with Tom spending a few afternoons at Loon's workshop recently. He bought a pair of 1/8"NPT brass fuel taps from the States, plus 2 threaded inserts. This evening I nipped over to my brother Brock's workshop in Wiltshire & pestered him to TIG weld them in place & blank off the original tap hole under the tank. A lot of work, as the tank had previously been repaired with braze, which doesn't react well to TIG welding, but nicely done.
The wonderful thing about TIGers, is I'm related to one.

http://www.fieldcraftfabrication.co.uk/

.

Think I'm beginning to see a trend here.  :)
Nice work as always Brock.

Nice work there......I tig weld conveyors and large wash tanks at work...and then come home and tig weld bits and pieces to flog on evilbay in what spare time I have left ;D ;D 

There's definitely an art to it. I've got a 150 MIG, but haven't used it for 4 or 5 years at least -I seriously think I've forgotten how. A properly run bead of TIG weld is a thing of beauty.
Tom's tank tried in place on the frame. He's very happy with the taps & asked me to convey his thanks Mr Brock. Tom's going for a slightly steampunk/industrial kinda look, mixed with a bit of 60s inspired craziness, so the sticky outyiness of the big brass taps is just what he was looking for.

On the right of the tank are 2 right angled fittings screwed into threaded bungs, welded into the tank. There'll be a short length of coloured plastic fuel line between them as a fuel level sight glass.

yep.....made some of those with stainless threaded elbows,and brass tail pipes. Just out of interest...would that pass the mot test with the fuel gauge on the outside of the tank....or do you just blank them off on the day of the test?

A good question, & one I've asked too. Not sure. Anyone know?

dont know about the mot but is he sure those taps will pass the msva ? , i know the filler cap has a max height and thats to save your nuts if you have a  head on and slide up the tank , dread to think what they would do to you.

also dont think they look right , if they curved out of the tank downwards following the lines of the backbone that maybe , but its not my bike  ;D

Or mine. Personal taste & all that. Curved would be nice.

Chris's split screen Moggy Minor. He's still working on this most afternoons. After a bit of a disaster with the 4 speed manual gearbox, (he's fitting a Rover V8 engine), while attempting to change the oil seals in it, he's now given up trying to shovel all the cogs back into it & bought a 5 speed instead. The Orca the killer whale paintjob was just an experiment, though I quite like it.

I love this Moggy. 8)

Me too.
 Chris has worked hard on this. Well he makes a lot of noise with the angle grinder ;)
The 4 speed is supposedly stronger but the 5 is much nicer and more usable, so a wise decision. Is he going to change the oil seals ?

I once owned the only Moggy in - probably the world! - that engaged first gear and reverse at the same time - and 2nd and reverse, and 3rd etc etc etc.................

Yeah, probably best to leave this gearbox well alone then!

The 4speed box from the p6 is worth a small fortune if second gear is intact, shove it on ebay and watch the pound signs appear :)

I think it's a set of casings & a big pile of cogs now.
Loony's Dad, Dave, has just bought these springers from a local VW trike owner, to replace the teles on his own VW. Roughly 8" over, (8" longer than standard forks). They're currently powder-coated silver, but the plan is to paint the rear legs in candy apple red to match Dave's trike paintjob & chrome the fronts & the springs.
Modelled here by my beautiful photographic assistant, Mr Loon.

And tried against Archie's bike to give some idea of scale. Yup, forget the trike, bung 'em on the bike.

Them forks look bent to me. Reckon they have hit a stationary object at some point. Check them carefully below the bottom yoke on the rear legs.

Hi Iain. Yup, been commented on by everyone who's seen 'em, so will be sorted before they're ever used.

Dave, (Loony Senior)'s been looking at the forks today & attempting to straighten them, using the flat bed of his mill as a guide. No way they're gonna straighten without some heat though, so that's the next step.
Meanwhile, Chris is working on the exhausts for his Moggy Minor. He's bought a selection of stainless steel bends & has resurrected my old MIG welder, which still has a small reel of stainless wire in it. Using the new version of Pop Brown's manifold flanges, (sold in linked pairs rather than single flanges like mine), he's building up the headers on one of my spare cylinder heads. Clearance between the exhausts & the chassis & steering column UJs is tight, so it needs custom built headers instead of off-the-shelf "block huggers".
He plans to wrap them in exhaust bandage, but personally I think once the welds are cleaned up, they'll be too nice for that.

Got the hubs back as well today

Which hubs, from where Christopher?

The re drilled scimitar hubs

There's more than just me reading this ya know- so, for the benefit of the rest of the World -Scimitar hubs, redrilled by occasional forum member & local engineer, Mr Saddlebags, to take the Morris Minor wheels?

Yeah but your better at explain stuff. Haha

And kinda cute & loveable too.

O yeah to take the morris wheels. So I need another morris wheel cause in great skill I sold all mine

Morris Minor wheel fitted to re-drilled Reliant Scimitar hub. Chris is still looking for at least one Moggy wheel. Experimental black & white killer whale paint scheme replaced with plain satin black.

Water hoses fitted etc. Original radiator re-cored to cope with the V8 courtesy of Mr Kapri's contacts in the trade.

Stainless exhaust header made up from pre-formed bends bought from t'internet & stainless flanges from Pop Browns. MIG welded by Chris using stainless wire. He plans to cover the "Rover" badges on the rocker covers with "Morris" ones.

now thats a mozzie with bite!

 :D

:D
I assume that mozzie is a reference to the preproduction name of the Minor. That or the land down under, autocorrect  doesn't know the word moggy. ;)

no moggys here. we call em mozzies

We also call Morgan sports cars "Moggies".

thats correct andy. always called mine "morris"

You called your Morgan, Morris!
Silly boy.

If I had a Morgan I'd call it Henry.

 ;D
Chris is still plodding on with the Moggy/Mozzie. He's sorted out a very convoluted steering column linkage to feed the column around the motor & is now making up the bulkhead panels.

Tom's XS650 Yam. Tom hasn't been around for a while so Mr Loon's just pottering on with it when he gets time, trying out various ideas. Drilled side casing. Makes no difference to performance at all, but looks cool.

Hmmmm....

 ;D

 ::)

Colin Chapman would have no doubt stated that he was "adding lightness?" :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Narrowed pit bike bars, (what I would call "Ace Bars"), fitted upside down to form American style "Bunny Bars". Loony's got a more or less free hand on Tom's bike, so these are what he's getting. He's going for the current American 60s retro look of tall & skinny.

Never leave your camera unattended in the workshop.
Mr Loon & my good self, looking a little fuzzier than usual, which explains why Chris doesn't post many photos.

never ever trust that bloke at the bottom. :P

Distinctly dodgy -& fuzzy. They're the worst kind.

a bit more beard growth and a few more grey hairs ============ christmas is coming  :D :D

rough looking santa, look out kids!!!!! lol

(http://media501.dropshots.com/photos/1101204/20131103/174523.jpg)

Bl##dy  hell if that bloke in the blue jumper had slightly longer hair it would be me, what do you say Mike !

Ha ha ha  ;D

Tsk. I get no respect from you lot at all.

Gotta say this, it's scary - in the red outfit no-one would know whether it was you or Brock!

Almost like we're brothers. Not sure he'd appreciate the comparison.

Lest I never took a load of random pics of road signs this time

 ;D

it was good to be in the workshop with you guy's yesterday.. hope my talk of Pontiac powered racers, Buggati inspired sedan's and mutant Regal's didn't give any of you nitemares  :P any pic's of the 21 against the rover Loony??

Nice to actually get to talk to you Shaun.
 You do realise that you are absolutely, totally bonkers don't you ! 8)

I do sir and I'm happily so  ;D

thats what my friends think of me!
"why dont you just buy one finished?"
"wouldnt XYZ be easier?"
not the bloody point, is it

I think my friends think its quaint that I make stuff
Each to their own hey!

Quaint-yeah, that's one way of putting it.
The dog's more sensible than Shaun is!
I'll be at the workshop later so will see what Mr Loon did with the camera phone pic he took of the 21" wheel propped against his Rover sedan.
Nice to see you Shaun, (& Dave of course). Full steam ahead for Holland on Thursday now. See you at the dockside Shaunus!

One of PantherShaun's 21" model T Ford wheels propped against Loony's '47 Rover. Some Manky bloke in the background, with Shaun's dog, Harvey.

A Golluff. One of many VWs at the 'shop at the moment. It's had an engine bay tidy up & respray.

A gaggle of Golfs. Mr Loon welding a mark 1 VW Golf in the rain -don't try this at home kids.

andy,,, mk1 or mk2  ::)

No idea Mike -they all look the same to me. Never quite "got" the whole VW scene. Not enough Beetles to go round, so they've looked about for some other VW they can artificially elevate to iconic status & chosen the most boring shopping car going. Just a square box with no character or style at all. Why are they now cool? Tescos carpark's full of 'em. 

looney wont like me then  i destroyed around a dozen mk1,s on the banger track  ::) ::)

2 months of almost continual wind & rain haven't been kind to the cover on Loon's Rover P2. Still, should give it a little more patina.  :D

Tell me, at what point,exactly, does patina become just plain old.........rust :D :D :D :D :D :D :D....I need to know this before I quit this mortal coil, anyone??...no, I thought not ??? ??? ??? ???..Morrag

maybe it depends on how hole,y it is or the depth of the crusty rust craters  ::) ::)

Patina's just trendy rust!

First couple of days of Spring & the covers are coming off the various projects outside the workshop.
The weather's been lousy for the last few months, with almost continual rain producing a river of flood water flowing through the yard. There's just a hint of better weather to come now though, so although there were a couple of bursts of rain & hailstones, Chris, ("Forgotten"), was able to roll the Moggy out into the sunshine today. He's working on the bulkhead, panelling around the exhaust headers at the moment. I'm jealous -his bulkhead looks much tidier than mine.
The Reliant Scimitar front hubs have been re-drilled to take standard Morris Minor wheels. The cast Scimitar rears will eventually be replaced with banded, (widened), Moggy ones too.

He put a lot of work into repairing the front grille panel -good enough for several people to assume it's a pattern panel.

A slightly arse up, 70s stance, but otherwise, it still looks completely stock. You'd never know there's a 3 1/2 litre V8 in there.

Chris's other toy. His Chevy pick-up, bought from Tom, (who's XS650's also in the workshop).
Chris has replaced the ball joints, bushes, brake lines etc & just MOT'd it, but it's been running a bit rough. Disconnecting the EGR valve seemed to make a big improvement, though it now seems to be running rich.
He very carefully test drove it around the yard.

.

.

Haven't posted in this thread for ages.
A couple of snaps taken this afternoon of Tom's XS650 Yam' -now more or less ready for stripping down for paint n stuff. Parked in front of my Pop pick-up, which isn't far from being back on the road after an 18 month re-fit.
Chris's Moggy Minor's languishing under a tarpaulin outside the workshop at the moment, while he pursues his drag racing ambitions in his Chevy pick-up. This weekend he's racing at Santa Pod in Bedfordshire & York Raceway in the UK Power Tour series.

My Pop, Tom's Yam, Loony's workshop -that's Mr Loon, the Hampshire New York skater punk.  8)