Manky Monkey Motors

 Got a Devon always liked  look of em,The car is far more solid than i imagined needs the cills doing  and some rear  wing mounting band repairs. And  the chassis is solid.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/T2eC16FHJF8E9nnC6LTTBQLKqyN60_12.jpg)
    Undecided as to what to do with it,  lowish with few mechanical mods a four cylinder engine keep  install mods to a minimum.   Or do it Gasser style a v 6 or even v 8 engine. what do others think.

sort of this.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/Z7.jpg)

or this.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/3912042895_645f3792a5_b.jpg)


    

the first pic, im not keen on the gasser look though

Hmmm,done alot to one of these ,(well a Somerset actually),many moons ago.First pic is a more 'usable' rod,maybe not so wide wheels (or is it tubbed?) on the rear. Second pic looks good,and I like a lot,but lose the drilled grille........................Over all,I'd go for the first one.

I Decided i am not going the gasser route, even though i have always like the look of them.
              We are on it now!   It  will be what it will be watch this space.  One things for certain i wont run out of time or money because you cant run out of something if you have none in the first place. ;D ;D ;D

Some useful/useless info ramble!.................................................Not sure what youre doing about front suspension,but maybe useful to know that Austin Westminster(R H Poo nowadays?)Discs etc bolt straight on. also Taxi front suspension is the same(not that you want a taxi!) MGB rear axle fits in width,cant remember if I had to alter the perches on it tho'.I had an MGB engine in mine,which as far as I recall bolted straight in.One piece flip front is also dead easy to do.Also I had early Rover seats in mine.

erm...............gaser gasser gasser, no surprise on that answer from me!!!!

(http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz249/UKGASSER/JS1.jpg)

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

gasser, gasser....  :P

Gasser, pick-up.
There was a stall at the NSRA swapmeet in Essex back in March selling fibreglass pick up cabs & panels for Devons.
A quirky shape. You don't see that many of them about compared to other Brit cars of the same age. As a fellow Old Brit car owner, (the car's old, not me. O.K, I'm old too, but not as old as the car), I'll be watching this with interest.

At the Nostalgia Nationals drag meet recently.

also, more pics please!!!

Mr M. I find that last comment particularly cutting with regard to those of us who are older than your car!! and feel you should withdraw that last statement forthwith, or I shall have to contact my Solicitor sirrah!!! :'( :'( :'( :'(..........I know where you live........................ ???

I'm a Postie -I know where everyone lives. Or so people seem to think when they stop me in the street & ask if I've got any mail for them.
My car's a '53. I can't believe you're that ...mature. Why, surely you can't be more than 23?
You look so sprightly. Suprisingly sportingly sprightly in fact.  :-*

creeping again andy!!! :D

This is about the worst bit of rot on the car the back wing mounting bands are  ripe, the cills want doing too a cover plate from way back i cut off tonight revealed good inner section to weld to just from the corner of the inner to the door upper cill to make up  and a bit on the bottom of the a post each side and the os lower door shut wheel well corner want a piece welding in.
    I am doing it all with oxy acetylene, but will clean and paint the chassis first, that is really solid. The car according to what i was told as been parked up since 1971 when the engine packed in.  I am not sure where it was stored but looking at condition must have been a dry place.
   All the vin and chassis nos are there and i have the no plate will it be a straight forward form filling in and 30 od quid to get a log book. And if the tale about it being stood is true will i still get to keep that number? As i thought that in the mid 70s DVLA took over all numbers from cars not declared in ownership, the start of this silly number plate selling racket they hatched about then. Any advice on what they will do on the log book. . .
 The dash i like the style of, and those back wing bands from inside the car.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/12.jpg)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/11.jpg)

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/1.jpg)

Kev, ("Kapri"), will be the chap to talk to about the registration issues. He's got an encyclopeadic knowledge of just about every rule there is.
I've seen those clock surrounds at swapmeets & always wondered what they came from.

Apparently a brick building collapsed on the bonnet of the Devon when removed and in storage, The Bonnet its self is bent at the front but is repairable, but the Grille as a broken section and a bent and snapped bar still hanging on for grim death.
     The Grille ... What is it made of any ideas, Don't say metal ;D Like a clever turkey  not two yards away from me now said. ;D  I think it was called Monkey metal  sort of an aloyish metaly sort of stuff ;D   How can i repair the guile i have the missing piece i found it amidst the rubble.  
    I thought about a product you used to see in the bike press a wile back called Lumiweld never used any but seen the adds. Do you think this will work or any other ideas to try and fix it back up.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/Picture935.jpg)

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/Picture936.jpg)

From memory I think those grills and other trim pieces are made from an alloy called Spalzac (I think that`s how you spell it, it`s definitely how you say it), when I was in the polishing game (as a youngster) I remember that it is so soft that you can polish it to a mirror straight after using a sanding belt on it. I say all this but I may be wrong. I know a lot of trim parts were made of it. Doubt if you can weld it if it is this stuff.

Sounds promising cabman , and i am sure you are right you wont weld this stuff. I am not sure but from the adds i remember that lumiweld was like a paste and you just warmed it up with even a normal plumbers propane lamp, reckoned to mend bike crank cases etc. Some one must have used it on here if it is good or bad.
    What about benzola that chemical metal they use. Another idea was to cut the grille bars out and back it with a expanded diamond mesh and may be spray it matt black, that way i get to keep the Austin grille design but a slightly different look. I don't want to spend too much time on this but i don't want it to look a bodge either, and the grille is the focal point of the entire front end.  ;D ;D Focal point i sound like a dodgey tv show  house designer.   ;D

I have seen Lumiweld used to repair a carburettor,And that's a zinc material,
It's actually a rod and flux,just like welding you heat the metal and feed the rod.
Worth a try.

Lumiweld is on ebay for 18 quid for 10 rods..  I thought about cutting out the bars as i said above and backing the grille surround with diamond expanded mesh sprayed black.

As a last resort i dont think it will look too bad .
  This sort of idea taken off the damaged bonnet and how i think the effect will look on a car
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/Picture934.jpg).
 
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/tt.jpg)

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/hhh.jpg)

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/00000022.jpg)

Couldn't you remake the grille in, say, round rods?
You could cut out the originals as you've shown, then make a steel surround from flat sheet, to attach to the inside of the steel bonnet & weld curved struts across, behind the original central upright. That'd give you a similar look to the standard grille, but be an interesting twist on the design. 

With so much of the original intact, I would consider well before removing the remainder as you could eventually regret it. Far better to prefab an alternative along the lines suggested by Mr. M, and retain that original, "as is" until you find a satisfactory method of effecting a suitable repair. Incidentally, Morgan still manufacture their grilles in the method suggested, silver soldering each rod in place individually, so........Morrag

Gotta agree -seems a shame to destroy an original fitting when it's only partly damaged -yeah, I know I cut my "classic" car in half!
A simpler alternative- fit a badge or plaque of some sort over the damaged area. Something like a vintage AA or RAC badge, or an owners club plaque. Or you could have a word with Steve Brock & get him to laser cut something of your own design. 

I hear you! I will hang fire lets face it i got enough to do without getting boged down just yet, Devons are not crawling out the wood work i can testify to that when i started looking for one. But they do show up and parts appear on the gumtree and ebay from time to time, perhaps a grille or a bonnet will turn up at the right money by the time i need it.

grille badges like this would nearly replace a grille entirely  ;D

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/ab_AustinA40Devongrille.jpg)

Look here them Ausies again cornering the market on Devons and Devon bits. and i only want one. ;D

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/Devonianfossils.jpg)

Sheesh! Looks like you need to take a holiday in Oz with a very large suitcase.

hi,

worth a call to bob pike 01603 408021 , he sells a lot of motor related items and could have a grill or know where one is.

tell him chris from yarmouth passed on his number to you.

cheers chris.

Errr, first thing if you don't have a logbook DON'T dismantle it . DVLA may well require a verification letter from an Owners club on their V765 list to confirm its originality and then want it taken to them for the,m to confirm the letter tallies with teh vehicle.

There is an 8 points system if you want to avoid issues with the logbok later and to remain legal forever.

Details here  :   http://www.the-ace.org.uk/chassis-and-monocoque-modification/

It's perfectly feasable to build a modified Devon under the rules as I've done it myslef , using Rover V8 and auto, Mk 2 Jag (solid) axle on original leaf springs , retaining original steering assembly and adding MGB discs  ( very slight machining of MGB upright to make it fit ).

Thanks for that i did call him up on the grille he had nothing at the moment nice bloke . But there is no mad rush,some thing will turn up always does , i had a hour today on cutting out the rear inner wheel arch rot, that's not as bad as it looks, tell you what i did find today a pile of rat ++++ >:( I hate the things on a plus point probably from the 70s  ;D ;D FOSSILIZED :P
      Looking at room for an engine  :o That central X section of the original chassis restricts the size of engine i can use without altering the chassis a fair bit . A four cylinder is about it length wise.
  

A picture of the nett to illustrate my point..

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/chassisa40.jpg)

It was striped when i got it, :( and whats worse is its been off the road apparently since 1971. Now some time around 1975-1980 Swansea decided that you had to say if you still had the car or not or it was presumed scraped,and they got to sell your reg number in latter years >:( i obviously don't know if this cars owner at that time bothered to tell Swansea, could that be a problem?.
     On a positive note it is a genuine thing all the plates are there the one on the front o/s chassis leg and one on the body side near the n/s bonnet hinge, both are readable. The Engine and gearbox are long gone.  What is my first move then with regards the log book, i can get it to Beverley or Sheffield if need be, But should i just apply for a log book first see what happens, my mate got an Anglia log book straight off, but it had only been off the road since the mid 80s.

  MGB front brakes  i got a front hub set up off a MGB with this car . talk me through it thoroughly please, parts are similar but not the same.  

like this when i got it last week.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/now.jpg)

i got the MGB brakes and the originals with the car.

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w91/tikka25/KGrHqRg4EH2PoERBBQNSRnP60_12-1.jpg)

pictures taken today, maybe some help!!

(http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143456.jpg)

(http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143510.jpg)

(http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143556.jpg)

(http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143520.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143530.jpg)

(http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143544.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143605.jpg)

(http://media9.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143613.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143620.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143629.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143641.jpg)

(http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/1010216/20120805/143707.jpg)

Well its certainly made me sit up and take notice poprodder.  ;D
     That is a nice car i like your front axle  8). My pile of oxide and cheviot fawn paint have a long way to go to get near that, i cant see me getting that deep in to the modifications on this project.
    That is one neat looking thing for sure.

not mine!!!!

I might be wrong but that damage to your front grille looks like it was caised by a badge in the first place ;D ;D ;D ;D

Although it is true about the loss of the logbook they would still be able to issue A number as opposed to THE number. Still requires the support of a club on the V765 list. I'm presuming you have the buff log book ( RF or VE 60 )? Best bet is pop in your local office and they'll guide you through it. Missing engine may be an issue  though :( .

To fit the MGB kingpins you have to machine the bottom section to match the original Devon piece and then machine the inner bush so it is 0.005" oversize to the bottom kingpin which allows it to rotate . I seem to remember I messed with a spacer plate under the top shocker to realign the caster angle . It was 23 years ago so parts are a bit hazy without the components in my hand.

With regards the engine and box missing, i have a 1971 MGB engine and box the 8 point rules relate to original engines or cars modified before 1998. Now the MGB was striped in 1980.