Manky Monkey Motors

Hope your sitting comfortably as it a long story.
I built The Cunning Plan out of what was a street car, (I ran this on the road from 1989 until 1995 with a Rover V8 and the original steel body.) this had a home made box section chassis with a 3 mm tube roll cage fitted.
I uses Spitfire front and Jag IRS suspension, the front has home made bottom arms which are fully adjustable for caster and camber, while the rear has had plates welded to the hubs and are solid mounted to the chassis (The drive shafts on a Jag act as the top arms, so if you break one, the suspension collapses and this is to stop that.)
I raced it like this for ten years until the end of 2005, they changed the MSA rules and like Brock's Black Pig, it did not conform to the new ones and was relegated to Test & Tune meetings only. (This is my other story, while I could not take part in MSA events as a driver, I was asked if I wanted to become a scrutineer, this I done and will tell you about it in another thread when I have chance.)
I always intended to build a new chassis for the car and when Brock said at the end of last year a friend was selling chassis kits on ebay, I contacted him and ordered a new comp altered chassis. (Brock also designed and had him to make him as well to make Black Pig Too)
For those who don't know, the difference between a slingshot dragster and altered chassis is that in a slingshot you sit behind the axle and a altered in front. I located and bought a Dina rear axle front the Bee Sting crew (This also included the front tube axle and other parts.) I have also been in touch with a gentleman who has a 351 4 bolt Cleveland with C4 box sitting in his garage, which I hope will be sitting in the car when finished.
It was always my intention to either use my old body or a new Mini body for the project, but like many things, I changed my mind.
While I like dragsters, I have never really wanted to build one, I always like something which does look like a car of some sorts, one of my old favourite cars was The Chicken/Crescent Coupe, so when Brock was unhappy with the front end of Black Pig Too, I arranged to have this off him and get a new dragster lower rail made up so I (I am saying "I" but Brock will be doing most of the chassis work) could build a near replica. I have ordered a new Fiat Topolino body off a nice man from North Wales which will be modified to suit.
I am in no real rush to get going on the new car and as Mr & Mrs Brock are trying to get their new cars out the tubes are sitting waiting for all the bits to turn up in the same place.
This was going well until we had the axle down from the north and have found its "HUGE" making Brocks 9 inch look like a Pop axle. this would be OK if it was going to sit behind me, but I am going to have problems with getting my legs over it, also we have found it is nearly 10 inch's too wide, again OK if on a altered like it was intended for but not a dragster/comp coupe. someone was selling a narrowed live Jag axle the other week, but this was 10 inch's too narrow, so it looks like I am going to have to sell the one I have and locate one the right size (37 inch's)
Anyway, that's all for now and below is what I hope to have in about a years time or so.
(http://www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk/readers/gallery_13/Chicken_Coupe.jpg)
(http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=1717&t=1)

Interesting. So show us some piccies of the Mini bodied beastie then Tony. I didn't know both you & Brock had fallen foul of rule changes. What was that -a change of dimensions, or noise levels or something? Brock mentioned something a while ago about you having to fit silencers to drag cars soon. That'd ruin half the racing atmosphere for me!
Love the car in the photos -clever how they've painted it all in black & white.  :) Where were those pics taken?

You now need to have 3 mm wall thickness tube for all the roll cage area.
My problem was that it runs a box section main chassis (and it is only 2.5 mm anyway) and in my class it has to be completely tube.
Brock's problem is that its got only 2.5 mm wall thickness

The two photos were taken early 70s at the Pod

As to the noise problem, yes they are going to have to be silenced, but the limit will not be as low as most motor sports.
The problem with Long Marston/Avon Park/Shakespeare County Raceway (Which ever you want to call the place)  is that it has curfews and limited use due to the noise, it is hoped that if we comply the restrictions might be lifted a little to give more times and dates the track can be used.
Don't forget the street eliminator cars run silencers and some of them are running low 8s high 7s at over 180 mph

Will have to look through my old photos to see if I can find the build up photos of the Mini

If you can find some photos & string a few words together, we'd love to feature it in the Motors section Tony.  ;)

hi,
nice write up, i love hearing the history of motors, peoples life story and there adventures.

cheers chris.

Is number 32 yours then Tony?

No, but hope it will be as near to it when finished, the main diffrence will be that mine will have to be a bit longer, this is due that the original had direct drive from engine to back axle, mine will have to run a gearbox.

Just a little update.
As I said in my first posting, the axle I have is just too big, well at the HRDs I managed to locate a Ford 9 inch which is 35 1/4 inch's wide, while its about a inch too narrow, I can at least fit spacers (No problem as long as they are the solid type)
After a phone call from the gentleman who has it, the cheque will be on its way north today and it will be coming down in a few weeks time.
Engine wise, I spoke to the fella I hope to be buying the engine and box off on the weekend and will be seeing him again at the Pod next weekend.
At least the chassis can now be lay-ed out.
More updates and photos as they happen.

That's good news then Tony. Will be good to see you back racing again.

(A little bit of a update.) So I can spend as much as I can on the new car, this weekend saw the last runs of The Cunning Plan as it stands now.
When the new car is finished and if I still have the Dana axle, I might do the same as Brock and use the engine and box and have a new chassis built.
As to the new axle, phoned up Alan who I bought it off and found he had a heart attack and couldn't get down the track this weekend, (If you're reading this Alan, get well soon), as we are going up North for holiday this week and will be passing not far from him in North Wales on the way back down, we are going to pick it up.
With this taken to Brocks, the chassis can be set up on the jig to be started. (I have got to say, that his car/cars will always come first as I am not that much of a hurry)
Hopefully there will be some photos to show soon.
Also I was told the body will soon be ready to pick up.

That's great Tony. Will be good to see you racing again.

Here are the first of hopefully of loads of build up photos, its going to be a bit drawn out, but at least its started.
The first are Brock's major contribution with the front axle
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle3.jpg)

Don't even ask why there are two drop tubes in the photo above.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle6.jpg)

now with some of my work, it was not alot, but to fit the new rear axle, I had to take out a little of the centre hub and make the holes a little longer.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle2.jpg)

That's a seriously narrow axle Tony! Is that an armoured shield over the axle casing?

  No, that seems to be a sleeping gnome

  "Don't even ask why there are two drop tubes in the photo above"


  We have a cunning plan ;)

double build ????????????????

triple by the look of it.

Andy, its a fabricated 9 inch, where Brock had to add a shield, as this is made from 6 mm plate, it don't need one

Your making me one at the same time, thanks mate  ;D
Dont worry about being drawn out, it gives me time to understand whats going on.


;D

Now you have something to build after the trike  ;)

There'll always be another project to build. Tis the curse of the shed dwellers.

A road legal dragster...... Stop filling my head with ideas!  ;D

My old one has still got a log book, still thinking of putting it back on the road.

Just after my last post, these turned up at my door, one of my sons friends made them from my design (Wont find out if they fit until Monday  :-\) and at a good price and just a couple of days to do.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/spacer1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/spacer2.jpg)

He's a useful mate to have!

wot width is that axle? 2'6 at a guess?

Not far off Gareth, its 35 1/4. There will be about 24 1/2 between the tyres time its finished.

hehe pretty sure mines running at 2ft 8 without tyres 4ft 4 with should make for some interesteing driving on uk rds lol

Anagram of 'rear axle' - 'a relaxer'

 ;)

Here is some more of Brock's workmanship, I wish I could knock up stuff as good as this.
These are what are known as "Bat wings" and help to locate the front axle, there will be one ether side and will have to rods joining the chassis to make the drop tube adjustable for caster. If you look on Black Pig Too, you see that it has only one, that is the norm, using the torsion bar as the bottom link, but for some reason they have used a 4 bar on the Cresent Coupe as well as the torsion bar, so thats what imines going to have. I designed the bat wings and torsion bar link myself and Brock has made them up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle9.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle10.jpg)

Ooh, them's pretty! Batwing as in Batman's boomerang thingy? 

Just a couple things done last Friday and today, the first thing I done today was check the fit of the spacers, while I had double checked the measurements, its always nice when things do fit as they should.
I stripped the paint off one of the wheels last Friday and done the other this afternoon, I can see why they were painted in the first place (Well they are over 30 years old) and will be painted again, your just going to have to wait to see what colour.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle9.jpg)

id,e love a set of that style of wheel for my chevy pickup project  something about 10,inch wide for the rear and around about 8,inch for the front   but funds arnt great at the mo and proggress is slow   this weather dont help >:( >:( >:(

Now a little more from the Brock workshop.
Again the front set up on the car is a little diffrent to most by having the steering arms and rod in front of the axle and not behind, this is good as we wont have any problems with clearance with the 4 bar or chassis.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle12.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle13.jpg)

I WANT THAT WORKSHOP  ;D ;D ;D ;D complete with contents of caurse  ;D ;D ;D

bugger you Tony...now I have to pull my finger out and get the new workshop built...it's only been 3 years since I dug the footings  ::)

If you want the contents as well spanners, that will include the bloody great rats that are in abundance and of course the roof that leaks like a sieve.  :(

Cor, Spanners, it comes with food and running water aswell ;) ;D

   there are times when I would be quite happy to see the back of it but it would be a bit of a commute for you, trust me, I spent better than a year running up and down to Buxton for work.

aaahhhhhh  ,sunny buxton,, i bypassed it a couple of hrs ago  its on my commuter route betwwen home and my ,other half,s, in cheadle staffs

Steve has been hard at work again, I cant thank him enough for what he is doing for me. This time it's the front torsion bar/s and fittings, though these will look like the real thing, they will not work (The same with the Black Pig Too) all the the suspension will be in the chassis itself.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle16.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle15.jpg)

Silly question time from the HotRod idiot (me).... if they aint gotta work.....why have them?

Steve is making the front end to look like the original one (Top picture on my site) which did work, its just a lot of very hard work to make it work and in the end it wont do that much in the way of suspension.

Aesthetics then. no its not a rude word, honestly  ;D

Thats the word I was looking for  ;D

A little welding needed to the torsion bar mounts and the front end will be finished, I am going up soon with the rear axle and wheels and hopefully have a few bars between the two.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle17.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle18.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle20.jpg)

That came together in the blink of an eye! wish my welding was that neat  ::)

So do I, I have not tig welded for years and had a go up Steve's early this year and made a mess (I was a couple of old plates) hope to have another go when I go up next.

Here is the finished axle
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle21.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle22.jpg)

thats looking the bis :)

my thoughts exactly, very tidy

Not so many things to show this time, but had a fruitfull weekend in the Black Pig workshop.
I went up early Sat morning so Steve could design the chassis ready to pull out the jig and start propper.
All was going well until we tried fitting in the top tube we had into the design, then no matter of what we moved or did, it just sat on top of the rear axle, we knew it was wrong and remeasured every thing again to be sure. By 8 O. clock we had enough and went home (Well Steve & Lesley's)
Steve had received the rim and spokes for one of the front wheels, the hub had been made by one of Steve's friends and we wanted to see if it worked, its only just quickly put together at the moment, but it does, Steve is going to make a stand so he can set it up properly.
Lesley was away for the night so Steve and myself headed of down his local for a pint and pick up some food on the way home.
I don't sleep to good when I have something on my mind and trying to think what was the problem, I woke up abut 8 for about the 4th time and it suddenly dawned on me, if you have been reading this, you know I bought a altered chassis and changed my mind, I ordered up a new bottom rail and did not even think that the top one could be wrong as well, well that's what it was. on a altered you sit in front of the axle and the top frame rail runs at a steeper angle and the bend it about half way along before the firewall, with a dragster, you sit behind and the chassis is not so steep and the bend almost at the firewall.

When I got up, Lesley was back, I told her what had happend and when Steve came down soon after we had breakfast (Thanks Lesley its was stunning and would be worth at least £30 if sold at MOTO services)
As soon as we got to the workshop, we tried the wheel on the axle and then drew in a new line to a dragsters plan and it worked, so the old plan was take up, a new sheet was put down and a 1/3 drawing was made to the new design and after a couple of phone calls a new top tube has been organized, as soon as that as arrived, the build will start.

(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle24.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis_plan.jpg)

Impressive stuff Tony. Looks like the birth of another stunning Cunning Coupe.

"Thanks Lesley its was stunning and would be worth at least £30 if sold at MOTO services"

It was a pleasure matey, glad I've managed to cook for you without given you cramp  ;)

   The Cunning Coupe needed wires on the front and these seem to much like hens teeth in the availability stakes, I consider myself very lucky to have found a pair earlier in the year to fit to the Black Thing. Taking the hubs of those as a guide, I sat down with Steve the machinist and sketched up what was required. He then took that away and converted it to a programme for the tooling he has access to. I spent some time scouring the Wibbly Wobbly Web and eventually found a supplier of thick wall aluminium tube, in Swindon ! result. Steve took a lump of this away and ran up a prototype, nice.

   After a bit more searching I found Central Wheel Components, a very nice lady there took all the information I had and they produced a set of heavy duty 10g spokes in stainless steel and a chromed steel rim to match

  In a brief sojourn between shed and pub, I and my attractive assistant cobbled it all together, went surprisingly well considering I had not laced a wheel for 30 odd years or more, pretty good for roundness, just some side deflection to take out when I build a truing jig

" and my attractive assistant cobbled it all together"

I do take booking and at a good price  ;)

also just to let you know, we havent missed any holes but the company always sends more than you need (There is ment to be 50, but only 42 arrived)

I'm not keen on shiny things as the more you have, the more you have to polish, but as the original car had one and so must mine.
This could be the last post before the end of the year, so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Tony
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fuelcap.jpg)

but they are smart caps m8 :)

Not really much to show, but have done a bit and learnt a lot the last couple of days.
The other week I borrowed a C4 bell housing of a mate so we could make up a engine plate, then last week I managed to get my gearbox and housing out of the old car.
I wanted to buy a bell housing like the one Brock has in the Black Pig Too but hey don't do them for the FMX box which I have, but when I put the two bell housing together on the floor there was a 20 mm difference between the two, so I have started to make a plate to fix to my box, so I can fit the C4 housing to it, this will mean that I can then use a heavy duty housing.
I measured up a few times and printed out a plan, I transfired it to a 20 mm alloy plate I got from fleebay and drilled some pilot holes. when I put the bell housing on top, it was all to cock, so I checked and double checked, came and drew a new plan which fitted the bell housing itself but again was wrong on the plate.
I had already centre punched the middle of the plate and put a horizontal and vertical lines on it so I marked out where the centre hole should be, put the housing on the marks and centre punched where the holes should be.
I had measured the distance between the top and bottom holes and thought (Like you do) that the top and bottom ones would be the same distance from the centre line, well they were not and were about 3 mm lower.
As you can see from the photo of the C4 housing (The one with the holes running around the inside) the holes are not in line, so I am going to wait until the plate is machined so I can sit the housing on and mark the holes that way

(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearbox2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearbox3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearbox4.jpg)

Still waiting for the adaptor to come back (He has done it, we checked it on the box and he has taken it back with the C4 bell housing to drill and tap the holes.)
But the most important part is that I have now got the power plant sitting outside in my van, its a 351 Cleveland (Ford), I found it on the eurodragster.com swap meet and was owned by a very nice man called Terry down in Worthing. To save me just going down to Sussex to pick it up, Linda, my daughter Lesley and myself paid a visit to my Mums in Eastbourne for the weekend and picked it up on the way home. It is always great to see my mum and great to at long last to have a engine.
Its already got some Mickey Thompson rocker covers and other bits and pieces, Terry said it was running when taken out of the Mustang and will be fitted as is and will be rebuilt when time and money allows.
It also came with a FMX box which will be kept for a spare (or even put back into the Mini even if it is standard)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox2.jpg)

Nice new toy to play with Tony.  :)

A 351 cleveland? For us engine numpty`s, whats one of them? How many cylinders, cc, bhp ect?

Ford made two types of engine, the Windsor built from 1969/1996 and the Cleveland 1970/1974.
The Cleveland is the best of the two and the most sort after as its a lot better engine.
Its a (In english) 5.7 litre 8 cylinder V8, they come with two types of heads, (Both 2 valve) the 2v heads came on cars fitted only with a 2 barrel carb and they say are better for the street as you can get more torque, the 4v heads (Larger valves and ports) were fitted with a 4 ballel carb, this is for high performance and makes a lot more top end power. it looks like my engine could be fitted with the latter, as its fitted with a 4v manifold, but I have been told that they do fit a 2v with a big mismatch on the inlet tracks, so it will have to come off so I can find out for sure.

Is there not a casting number on the head to id it?

Not that I could find TB but I now know what heads they are, the smaller valve 2v ones, you can see by the gasket how much they are diffrent, so it looks like I'm going to have to get another manifold as this one is going to zap power.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox5.jpg)
more photos of this and the new gearbox adaptor at http://www.cunningplan.net/thefuture.html

   I should keep the manifold and change the heads, that's a hell of a difference

Did'nt think of that, mind you the manifold is £250, will have a look to see how much the heads would be.

   you know it makes sense

http://www.worldcastings.com/products/man-ofootwar-10-aluminum-heads.html

....or better still,

http://www.jonkaaseracingengines.com/component/content/article/40-kaase-products/192-kaase-c-400-small-block-ford-cleveland-cylinder-heads.html

   and barely five grand a pair, at least I assume it's for a pair  :o

would,nt that engine be better of in my truck instead of that bloody EFI ;) ;)

Wisper "barely five grand" you know I'm deaf or I would have to be picked up off the floor

I had this reply yesterday, do you want to reply ???  ::)

"tony
 
i do not have any cut out 351cs but i do have a fully rebuilt one that i am looking to sell,i built this for my cobra, but decided to go for a stroked 393c, it has not been started , and i am looking for £2750.for the motor"

might have been cheeper in some ways, but at least I will know what went into mine

I recon Steve (Brock) is a Saint (I can see it now "St Steve Saint of Drag Racing)
heres my new front wheels made by his own bear hands   ::)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheel5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheel7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheel11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheel18.jpg)

Is there anything that bloke can't do?!
-oh yeah, Taz says she had to show him how to use his TV remote!  :P

Sorry. I forgot, dont text him as he dont know how to do that  ;D

Had some photos of the body just out of the mould, the wheel archs have been covered in (Not shown in photos, more to come) and when fitted to the chassis, the new ones will be cut out and tubs fitted.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body3.jpg)

Cool! Who produced that Tone? Your own work? Based on a '32 coupe?

Its a Fiat Topolino and was done by Paul Bland up on Anglesey. Modding it to fit will be between Steve and myself.

this is coming on a treat, nice to see someone is getting summat done  ::)...still trying to clear an area for my new workshop

Nice to hear from you Steve, when you going to get that trike of yours done?

Anyway, heres a pick of the body with the archs blanked off, it looks odd at the moment and will do until the new archs are cut out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body4.jpg)

I'm working on it, just complicated things even more by buying an XS650 hardtail  ::)

here is a quick paintshop of what I hope/will look like (Might have to widen the back end a bit.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body5.jpg)

As some of might have noticed that I was up Steve and Lesley's on the weekend, it was not a visit for Steve's birthday, but I had to take some bits and pick up John Munday's (Thanks John) tube bender from Planet Bristol.
The main bit was my box, torque converter and bell housing, In the end, as I need to get the borrowed one back, I will take off the adaptor, refit the FMX housing and use this to set it up, then buy and fit the Superbell near when its finished.
We have been a little let down in the top tube bending department and Steve has decided to do it himself (Hence the bender).
I also has a little birthday gift gave Steve one of grinder/plenisher from Lidl's.
That is about that for my car, but we attacked the Black Pig Too's engine (Steve can tell you more on his thread if he want to) but at the end of the day, the crank, pistons and rods are in and it turning very nicely.
It was a quickish change and it was party night down at Steve & Lesley's local for a pint (and a coke)
Steve and Graham (The big man) are going on a epic journey next Saturday to not only pick up my body, but to drop off the Moggy to have a mould taken then a body made for the other car sitting in the shed.
Sunday started off very slow with Steve nearly having to wedge his eyes open, then one of Lesley's getting near famous and very tasty breakfasts, buy the time we had finished this and sorted a few things out, it was time for me to hit the M4 pay my £5.50 to get back into Wales.
More news soon

over two months since my last posting, so a little update. It is a little slow at the moment, but at least its forward slow.
It was my intention to not touch the engine until it was up and running, but that gone through the roof. As you know I have removed and sold the 4v manifold and got a 2v Holley Dominator one instead.
I have bought roller rockers and adjusters for which the rocker posts have to be machined to fit, the heads have been taken off and someone is looking to see if they can do it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/parts1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/parts3.jpg)
all the old valves and springs have been put to one side
(http://www.cunningplan.net/parts2.jpg)
I ordered and received a cam kit which includes all the bits to match the cam.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/parts4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/parts5.jpg)
After looking at the old valves and pushrods, when money allows a new set will be ordered up with a complete gasket set and a sfi ballancer and flexyplate. the complete engine will be completely stripped down and rebuilt with new parts where needed (When I bought the engine, the bottom end had not long been done, but I will have a look anyway)
More news when it happens and my site will be updated (much the same as this posting,) before the weekend.

ooooooooooh we like shiny new stuff :-*

So do I   ;)  (Paid the bill for the import today  :'( still cheaper though)

Some more stuff came through the garage door the other day and some good news.
As you know Lesley & Steve's Black Pig Too is up and running (And came 2nd last meeting) a date has been set to start the chassis, this will be the weekend of the 31s July/1st Aug. the main rails will be bent and layed out on the jig.
The bits that came were the new valves and pushrods.

I also tried (And failed) to make some header flanges, I punched them out at my mates place but was not too happy with them, so I bought a pair which still needs a little work, but not as much as the one I made would.

I think yours looks better Tony  ;)

Remind me of those paper cut-out people we used to make as kids.

Mine is the bottom one  ::)

   "Reminds me of those paper cut-out people we used to make as kids."

        He does me too

All I got to make was paper chains for Christmas  ::)

All bar a couple of photos posted by Brock (Which I hope he will be able to link for me when I know what photos they were) I have linked all of mine to my website photos so you are now able to see them.

Thanks for that Tony.  ;)
After we were hacked recently & had to re-load the forum, we lost some photos from a few threads. If anyone's posted piccies on the forum & noticed they're no longer there, please re-post them in the appropriate places if you still have them.

After telling a few other people that I was (and still will be) going to Steve's shed next weekend, I was surprised to receive some photos from Steve & Lesley when I got home tonight.
Looks like they have both been busy with not only the bottom rail being laid out, but also the back braces and axle put in position.
Thanks both.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis6.jpg)

I also have another couple of parts on the way from the States, these are a head stud kit and sfi flexyplate and ballancer. All I need now is a complete gasket set and a few odds "n" sods

Also there is a 800 double pumper coming from down south which I bought for a good price.

(Its no good looking for updates on my site for a couple of days, I have to use my old laptop and have not got access to it until I can borrow it back off Mrs Plan.)

Nice Tony.
I'm sure Steve's told me before, but why are the bottom rails cut off at an angle like that? Is there another smaller tube that slots up inside those ones to complete the bottom rail? Is that for added strength, or something cleverer?

The front rails will slot into them, due to the angle it makes a stronger joint (they will also have rose weld just behind the joint) as in this photos of the Black Pig Too
(http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4930.0;attach=10298;image)

I went to the shed as planned on the weekend with Saturday being a very fruitfull day, we got a lot more done than we thought we would.
We were using the altered top tube and set it up upside down in the jig, we worked out what bends we needed to make it fit and Steve plotted it on the plan on the wall. I looked OK but there was something wrong about it with the last of the two bends being just behind the engine plate.
So it was turned over, worked it with the new bend behind the old one and again it was plotted on the plan, this time it looked much better, so the tube was bent and setup ready for tack welding.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis11.jpg)
The main uprights were cut and tacked in place.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis12.jpg)
Then it was time for the seat and kidney bars at the back (At the back of the chassis where the seat fits, you have to be able to run a straight edge up and down the up rights and not be able to touch the seat, these are the kidney bars.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis13.jpg)

Thats starting to take shape nicely.

Looking great Tony. Shame my brother's talent didn't stretch as far as me.  :(

Thanks both, the I don't think there is much Steve cant put his hand to.
Anyway, Sunday turned out very differently with me having a phone call at 7.30 to say me mum has been rushed into hospital in Eastbourne and they would keep me informed.
After one or Lesley's famous breakfasts we made our way to the shed, stopping of for a second to take a photo of a combind in work.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/combine.jpg)
The plan was to set up the gearbox & floor bars and put the seat in. The gearbox bar went in no problem as also the seat,
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis18.jpg)
but as we were getting ready to do the rest, I had a phone call suggesting to get down to Eastbourne ASAP.
My daughter also phoned and said she was on her way to pick up Mrs plan and they would be on their way.
It was a quick wash and 3 hours later I was sitting next to my mum, while she is quite ill, she had improved a lot since the morning.
As I will be down here until tomorrow, I will be unable to update my site until I get home.

Best wishes from me Tony.

Thanks TB, the good news is, I have just got back from seeing mum and shes doing great and will hopefully be fully recovered in a couple of days. I'm going to phone the hospital in the morning and is she is still doing well, I am going home and Linda (Mrs Plan) and Lesley (Daughter) are going to stay for a few more days as they are both on holiday.

Glad to hear she's on the mend tony.best wishes from me.and mrs good.hope she's back home soon

gaz

Had these drop through the door tonight (Well brought by Mark (The person who made the spacers)) These go on the front of the 4 bar and fix to the bat wings on the drop tube.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle26.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontaxle27.jpg)

Them's nice.

Well the weekend has been and gone and we got as much done as we could. We were hoping to start on the cage and I even took my helmet and neck brace up, but setting up the gearbox and making the motor plate and all the little odds and ends we did not get anywhere near it, but we still go a fair bit done.
When I took the box and other bits up, I also took the shim plate that goes between the engine and box. Steve measured this up and transferred it all onto a bit of 3 mm steel plate, he cut it to fit between the rails and then cut out the two main holes (Crank and starter motor) and drilled for the bell housing bolts.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/motorplate2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/motorplate3.jpg)
While he was doing this, I decided that the callipers on the back axle would be better at the front, this would take the brake pipes out of the way. This did not take long and it looks a lot better for it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle13.jpg)
Lesley and I started to make up the seat; we used cardboard and transferred this to the alloy sheet. When marked out, Lesley cut it out with the plasma cutter. We bent this around a gas bottle and fitted it into the chassis. It was cut oversize, so when it was fitting perfect, we marked it and I trimmed it off with a disc cutter.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat4.jpg)
With the motor plate made, Steve started to make the chassis mounts for it. The bottom ones will also be used to hold the belly pan at the front.  We are going to fit a checker plate floor between the gearbox and rear axle anti rotational bars, so I cut a couple of support bars to go in between. These will also be used to take the back stays for the gearbox mount (Not shown in photo)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox21.jpg)
This was as far as I got, they have been shutting the M4 at Newport overnight for the last few weeks so I had to make a early exit so not to have to take the long detour. Steve and Lesley were still going to finish off a few things before they went home.
For those who have been following the build will know I had to shoot off down to Eastbourne the other weekend, as my mother had be rushed into hospital. While my mother will be out in a couple of days, it has taken a toll on myself and family, I have decided I have to put the build on hold for a while.
The engine and parts have been put away in my son’s garage and will stay for a couple of months, also with events and holidays, I will not be able to go The Shed until the end of October at the earliest. The car is still planned to be out next year, but I don’t think it will be at the beginning.
I would like to say a big "Thank you" Steve & Lesley for not only building the car, but looking after me while I am down in deepest Wiltshire and also when up the track.
My site has been updated (And paid for, for another year) at http://www.cunningplan.net/thefuture.html

Noone can blame you for making that decision Tony, there are much more important things in life than our respective hobbies. I`m sure i won`t be the only one looking forward to the next phase of your build, however long it takes is irrelevant, it`ll be worth it.

you gotta look after your mum.

And yourself as well!  Sensible decision.

Thanks you lot, I always forget about myself  :-[
Anyway, while I was up the Bulldog bash, Steve & Lesley have been busy with my car. Steve has finished the gearbox mount, the anti rotational device (Stops the axle from turning if the diff seizes) made the axle plates and made and fitted the bottom to the seat
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis23.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/antirotate3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/antirotate4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/axlemount3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat7.jpg)
as normal, more on my site at http://www.cunningplan.net/thefuture2.html

They've certainly been busy bunnies haven't they. Looking fantastic Tony.

At long last my mum is back home, phoned her last night and she even sounds better than she has done for a while now.
Me, starting to get my head together and do want to get stuck back in, but I also want to take it slow and not get back to where I was the other week. When I get the time, I am going the grind in the valves and after the holes have been drilled and tapped, fit the outer springs.
Just a small undate from The Shed, Steve has finished welding the axle plates and the seat has been finished and fitted.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/axlemount5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat10.jpg)
The seat will have padding made by my friend Reg, he done the one in The Plan but after a accident has not done anymore for over 10 years, he said he is going to dig out the sewing machine and give it a go. The plan is to use red flake vinyl (I have only found one place who sell it, does anyone knew of anywhere else?)
More updates coming soon

glad to hear your mum's much better.. always make's you feel better yourself.great news and keep up the great work.


gaz

Brought back memories.........

I've got a pic of the Crescent Coupe rail in an early edition of National Drag Racer, don't recall if I ever saw it (grey cells getting old) as only visited Blackbushe in that era (end of the 60's and into the 70's). Certainly don't recall any other similar machines of the period.

I can remember Topolinos being used extensivley for Spedeworth Superstox in the 70's where they took the body and chopped it to fit.


Found this on youtube which may be of interest as it has a couple of 'bodied' rails (plus a fantatsic soundtrack - no music, just engines!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGU7V44QRI&feature=related

(if the link doesn't work, search for      CackleFest 2010 with Don Garlits at NHRR   )

Slow but sure, its still going forward. Over the last couple of days, I have given the heads a quick clean (Pointless doing too much until the rocker stud holes have been drilled and tapped)
The valves have all been ground in by hand, complete gasket set and other bits have been ordered.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/heads2.jpg)
also a couple of items dropped through the door today (Well down the garage) The first was the flame retardant Red flake Material. Steve will be cutting out the holes in the seat for the harness, them taking it up the HRDs. Reg said to bring that up with the fabric and he will start making the padding. The other parts are weld on brckets of Dzus fasteners, which included the springs and rivets to hold them.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat12.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/dzus1.jpg)
More news soon.

Tony, never saw myself, but always loved the way it looked, I hope mine looks as good when its finished, it won't be through lack of trying.

Lookin' good Tony.

I have just added a small update, I have taken the seat and fabric to Reg and pretty much given him a free hand.
The heads are finished and after getting a large parcel from Real Steel today, one head is ready (Did not have time today to do both and as I am not in work until Monday, the other will have to wait until then.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/heads5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/heads7.jpg)

Looks impressive Tony.

I forgot to take a photo of the heads before they were done, there was a lot of work to get them machined right, took a while to get done but worth the wait.
Below are some standard heads with the groove rocker posts, these had to be machined .300 and the holes drilled and tapped 7/16 unc. Sounds easy, but the post are not straight up but lean two ways from the block, with the inlet leaning one way and the exhaust leaning the other.
(http://www.ausfordparts.com/ebay/A351Cheads/images/head1.jpg)

Looking good Tony,glad you coul get them done.

Thanks for having a go John, Ian who done them said they were a right bar steward  :'(

The other day I picked up the engine from my sons garage, the next day I found time to take a couple of each main and big end shells, I found that both are both .020 over, the crank and other parts of the engine look in very good condition and it's even got what looks like a new oil pump, thats going to save me a few bob. (there are some new .020 big end shells on feabay at the moment, half the normal price, might be good for spares or having them a bad omen!!!)
Over the next week, I will be fitting the timing cover, sump and damper, then it will be ready to take to The Shed. The heads and manifold will not be fitted until after it fitted to the chassis.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox22.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox24.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox26.jpg)
Over the last few weeks I have been doing a seperate section on my website just for the Cunning Coupe. This is still not finished but I am still using "The Build" section for all the updates (Last on page 3), the other sections will be done as when the parts have been finished.
I am still working on it and would like to have some feedback, its like me "Plain & simple" so let me know what you think.
The new bit can be found at http://www.cunningplan.net/cunningcoupe.htm
and the latest update on page 3 (No you wont find any nude women) http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild1.html

Looks great to me Tony, though my tired ol' eyes found the white outline of the lettering against the bright orange background a little hard to read at first. Bright & colourful & a nice layout. Very informative too.
Why the unusual crown shape on the pistons?

I thought that as well and have already changed a couple of pages already.
The only thing I can think off about the pistons is, that the valves are one of the biggest you can get for that size of engine (The 4v heads have bigger ones again) and they come out at a angle, so it looks like its for clearance.

Ahh, I thought perhaps it was some sort of super clever combustion swirling idea.
Don't think my hotrod engine's as clean as yours! Very nice.

Reg dropped the finished seat down the garage this afternoon, I gave him pretty much a free hand and think he done a great job (And for free, I am going to owe lots of beer when this cars finished :? ) after I/we (Jon) has sprayed the back metal flake gold, the cover will be put back on with extra padding in the bottom.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat15.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat17.jpg)

Subtle & understated Tony.  :)

A quick update on the seat, "It's finished"
I bought some tins of paint (Etch & normal primer, and gold base coat (Renault)) and sprayed the back of the seat ready for Jon to put on the flake. He came down the garage last night and had his first go a spraying flake. He mixed up some lacquer and I added some of the small gold flake I got from fleebay. He gave it as many coats until he ran out, he let this dry and covered the whole lot in clear (Again until the gun ran out)
We left it to dry overnight with a fan heater. I went in this morning early, gave it a quick polish, put the cover back on and I for one think it looks great. As Steve said, with the body on, "Who's going to see it?" I have planed to do the same as the Mini, be able to use it with the body on or off.
We had a memory foam pillow the no one would use, so I cut this to shape and inserted it into the base on the seat, it looks better for it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat24.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat25.jpg)

An axle a couple of reindeer's should look good Tony ;D





on a serous note i think it's going to look the dogs. :P

With Steve in charge, the car itself will be, still a little worried about getting the body to look right.
I am going up on the weekend to sort out the cage, steering and pedals. The look of the body depends how low we can make the cage and still make it MSA legal.

Remind me to wear my sunglasses if I see you at the track!!!

You'll have the blingiest bottom at the track Tony!
Pimp my hide.  8)

OK a quick test for you (No not you Brock & Blackpig)
What you you do with these?????? answers by tomorrow night when I update my site

Put them on a customised Harley?

It will hurt, and make you :'(  ;D

That's much the same as my answer, isn't it?

 ;D
Pedals I reckons.

windscreen wipers

Should have excluded mankey as he could have inside information 8)
A friend came into the garage the other week and said he had picked up a couple of mirrors at a boot sale for a tenner, he brought them to the garage a couple of days after, I asked "How much?" he said twenty five, I said twenty and the deal was done (Have a look on fleebay to see how much they are  :o)
Liked the look on them and wanted to use them on the car somewhere, even if the look quite strong, I did not want to use one as a brake pedal as was, so I designed a couple of pedals and Steve cut them out of 5 mm sheet. I measured up, drilled and slotted the holes while Steve machined up the brackets to take the mirrors. (The weekend before I had stripped them down and found the lens were plastic, I draw around them on some ribbed rubber for the foot pad, these will be glued over the lens.)
With the brake pedal, Steve surgested we put a strengthening plate down the back to stop it bending, this was done as the last thing I needed was the brake to fail in the shutdown area.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/throttle2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake5.jpg)
That was the mirror bits taken care off, what about the shafts  ???
We have had to move the main shifter to alongside the box it self as there is just no room around the cockpit area, so we used one of the stems as a remote shifter, this is linked by a 6 mm rod bent into shape to clear the brake.
It took us ages to set up the main shift, but once set, it works great, the only thing left to do is make a way to work the reverse lock out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearchange8.jpg)

The other one will be used as the chute release.

What do you think???

A view into the cockpit
(http://www.cunningplan.net/cockpit1.jpg)

Well it didn't hurt afterall ;)

good thinking batman,they look much better there than on a pair of handlebars.

I fancy getting them chromed  ;)  what you think  ??? (Give you a phone in the next couple of days)

I win! -sorta.
No inside info, promise.
Nice job, (s), guys.

Agree, surprisingly good!

This is now the second weekend that snow has almost stopped play. For those who don't know where I live, my house backs onto a mountain where I have to come up a couple of quite steep roads to get here. Last weekend it was the Wild Bunch presentation dinner & dance in Tamworth. I had phoned a couple of people up to say that I would not be able to get there when someone came round and cleared the road for some wedding cars to get the bride to the church on time. This weekend, I was going to Steve's (Brock's) shed to do some more work on the race car, it was the bloke in the corner house just down the road,(You can see in one of the photos) had the road cleared to get a builders lorry to drop some stuff off so he could some work.
I normally leave here at about 8, but it was gone ten before I made my way carefully down the hill to the main road.
This is what the road was looking like just as I was ready to leave.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/snow1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/snow2.jpg)
The main plan of action this week was to fit the roll cage. I put on my helmet and neck brace and sat in the car while Steve measured and marked out where it needed to go. He then made a wooden jig and put on the front tube.The front on your helmet it got to be at least 3 inch's behind the front hoop, with all this set up, the bar was cut and tacked into place.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis27.jpg)

Then we cut the second hoop and done the same. We meassurd the two small bars and this lot was welded in
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis28.jpg)
While Steve was doing this I made the fixings for the reverse cut out. When the shifter was in the old car, I pushed the red lever to one side as I pulled the shifter back to get it into reverse. With the shifter being next to the gearbox and operated remotely I need someway of doing it. I bought some pushbike cables and fixings and used these, it works well but I still need to make a small lever near to me to operate it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearchange9.jpg)
Time I had finished this, Steve had finished welding that, we then cut and welded the last two sections to the back.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis30.jpg)

There are still the helmet bars it fit (They go between the main bars to stop you helmet pocking through the sides.) which will be done in the week by Steve, or next weekend when I go up again.
I took the finished seat back with me again and this time it fitted, we will have to change the fittings as it was screwed in the the inside and we now cant get into them due to the cover, it looks like we will be using nutserts and bolting it from the outside.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/seat31.jpg)
We have been trying to find somewhere to fit the battery out of the way, we found we have just enough room on top of the gearbox and under the top casing to fit a gel battery in its side, they are not cheep but its better than fitting it where it will be seen. We done all the measurements for this off Steve's battery and he will be again making it if he has time in the week.
Towards the end of the day, I had a go at welding a couple of offcuts together, saying that I have not TIG welded since 1976 I managed to do most of it, though it took me some time to set the mask so that I could see and to be honest, it was quite crap and was duly chucked into the scrap pile never to be seen again
As I said, I am due to go up again next week, so more updates after that (My site will be updated in a couple of days.)

Looking fabulous Tony. So will you be out in it next season?

The way its going, yes no problem. I have nearly all the bits, (Only the exhaust to sort out, where did you say you got your bends from??) the trailer has been sorted. So hopefully one of the first (If not the first) track days up SCR.

Let us know when cos I'd love to see it in action.
My exhaust bends came from Custom Chrome, (not the bike accessory supplier, the ...exhaust bends supplier). Tried to order more recently but couldn't find their website.

Theres quit a few people waiting to see it run, will have to make sure it all works before I go to the track. Used to run the old car at a local industral estate every time we made any big changes before to took it anywhere.

http://www.custom-chrome.co.uk/

just updated and now on http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild4.html (http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild4.html)
(now on page 4)

haven't seen this for a while.....looks great

Life is full of compromises and the car is just the same
Before I went to The Shed this weekend, the plan was to put on the front end and make it rolling, but Steve needs to use the shed for a couple of jobs and with the car going to be just under 21 feet it would be awkward for him to move around, so we used Saturday to sort out the tinwork.
Steve had already made the under pan and rear side panels, but had not made the front panels as he did not know how I wanted them due to the shape of the chassis, follow the bends? Or go straight across to the engine plate? I went for the first option, as if the top cover was off, the latter would leave the edges sticking up, which could get damaged when working on the car, this is going to make the top a little harder to make, but not much.
Once we had cut out the panels, we worked out where and how many fasteners we would need and where best they went. This decided, the tabs were welded onto the chassis and the panels were put back on, marked through the tabs and then drilled, we next riveted the springs to the tabs and trial fitted the panels. The fasteners will not be fitted to the panels until after painting.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork10.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork11.jpg)
 Sunday morning, we put the chassis on stands and levelled it off, the axle was put in, a bar was put through it so we could mark the centres of the wheels to mark for where we need the tubs, we then got the body from out of the other shed and just lowered it on top, we could see it was not going to work. A quick measure of the axle put the top of the tubs 2 inches below the window frame, so it was put the kettle on, sit back and have a rethink.
The only way it was going to work was cut out the roof.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body11.jpg)
It was another sit down and then grab the disc cutter and make the first cut, from then on, there was no going back.
After 10 minutes of cutting, the job was done and the body was sitting back over the chassis, we propped it up then walked around adjusting it until I was happy with the way it looked. We marked the centre line of the wheels, drilled a small hole each side and marked for the tubs (They will be round at the top with straight sides down to the bottom.) We marked the bottom front of the body level with the chassis, we then marked where the end of the chassis was, we drew between these, then up at the rear to the end of the body.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body18.jpg)
It was another stand back and another look, you know what? I quite like it!!! It was a “compromise” but a good one.
Not only do I think it looks good, but also due to the way it sits, I don’t have to extend it anywhere near 10 inches now, and have decided to extend the bonnet section to the engine plate, so I phoned Paul up and ordered a longer bit of bonnet than I have now.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body22a.jpg)
It’s the Wild Bunch AGM and I have a couple of MSA seminars next weekend, so will be going up the weekend after. Don’t know what’s planed yet but will update soon after.
(My site has been updated.)

http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild4.html

Looking good Tony. That brother of mine's a talented bugger ain't he.
One question. Will the top of your wheel arches cut into the bottom edge of the windows as marked? Lifting the body that couple of inches would've left the window shape intact as you say -why wasn't that feasible?

sickening sometimes  ???

The whole idea of cutting the roof was to get the arches into the window, thats the look of that type of car.
the car I'm basing mine on
(http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=1804)

Ahh, I see. Carry on!

And now you climb in and out of the sunroof too!  ;D

Thats the other good thing to come out of it ;D

(That JAP motor went for 20 quid in the end, was going to bid, but did not know if anyone else on here was bidding which would have knocked it up some)

Bloody postal service, all our plans for the weekend in ruins, don't they know theres not many weekends before the season starts  >:(. What do they go and do (Parcel Force that is) go on strike so Steve could not get the tubes needed for the front end. (Was not delivered to the stockest)
So we had to re plan what we were going to do. Steve had already knocked up the wheelie bars (Including jacking point) so first it was to make a stand for the car to sit on in the pits (The cars must never just be sitting on jacks while they are being worked on or started in the pits.) there is only about 3 inch's below the chassis at the back and then it slopes up from behind the axle, so we not only had to make the stand, but also make it so it don't move.
I found some 50 x 3 mm flat and bent that to fit across the chassis, I used flat as the car has a full belly pan under the rear, so this will be covered with rubber to stop damaging this, we then turned the chassis over and drilled a hole each side and Steve welded in a dowel (Sticking out about a inch) I put the flat next to them, marked them up and drilled the holes for the dowels. As the car would not sit at the same angle every time its jacked up (And sometimes the front might to be jacked as well) so the top needed to swivel. Steve made a pivot at each end and made the legs.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheeliebar1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/stand1.jpg)
While he was doing this, I had finished the seat and fitted it to the chassis, Steve was right to say it would look better going over the chassis, also its easier to fit as I can bolt in the seat and fit the cover on after. (Also I can quickly take it out if it rains or gets wet and needs drying.)
Sunday was set to make and bend up the top panel, we had sorted out some pipe to bend it around and fitted this to the bench. we used a bit of scrap alloy to see if it worked and it did of a sort, even though the tube was 4 inch, the bends turned out bigger, but as we had tried it on scrap, we could re measure it and then bent the real panel. Time we had finished this, it was time to get off home, before I did, I marked up where the panel was going to be cut and Steve did  that on Monday.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork20.jpg)
I have a long trip to make this Saturday (About 400 miles) to pick up the wheel tubs and the extra bit for the front. The weekend after is the Riders/Drivers meeting which I have been asked to attend, so it going to be the weekend after before my next trip to the shed.
The steel is now in and Steve will be picking it up ready to make up the front end, this with fitting the tubs will be on the list of what to do that weekend.
More photos and write up still on page 4 of The build on my site

Tis a thing of beauty is that Tony.

Cheers Andy ;)
So how am I going to get this very long thing around  ??? well what about a very long trailer  :o
This 25 foot long with a 21 1/2 foot bed is being built by my friend Anthony at his company http://www.sovereignwroughtiron.com I have known Anthony for quite a few years now and used to work part time for him and a few years ago rebuild his trike and Rover V8 engine.
It is being done to my design and made to make loading and unloading easy and without having to remove the trailer from the back of the van. When I went to see it this morning there was a little problem, as they thought the back end was too floppy, they had welded in a rear cross member, I have asked them to cut it back out and move it a couple of feet forward, the gap was designed wide enough for the chassis to pass through. The ramps will be 50 inch's and will be fixed on the back.
As at the moment I don't know where the ballance point will be, the axle is fixed on both sides with two bolts, they have stamped out two long lengths of flat plate with nuts welded on top, this was then welded to the underneath of the chassis, I can now move the axle fore or aft about 18 inchs each way and if I do need to (I have had no problem with my old car and trailer with only one pair of wheels and the new car will be a couple of hundred kilos lighter), fit another axle.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer4.jpg)

Will you be able to tow a trailer that long on an ordinary car driving licence Tone?

remember I'm a oldie, looking at my licence its the weight (7 1/5 ton plus trailer) not the length and it sould be lighter than my old car and trailer. I have ordered "Long Vehicle" plates and there will be 3 markers down each side and red/white lights on top of the mudgaurds and at the back each side (Plus the normal rear lights)
Brock will tell you that this is short compaired to some and most of them are boxed.

here you go Andy, just in with my bed at 6.6 meters (Single axle) (Always thought it was just weight) Just worked it out that with my current van it will be 13.5 m over all.
http://www.towingdelivery.co.uk/TowingRules.aspx

Only curious Tony.  ;)
Isn't there a reg about the length of the trailer compared to the length of the towing vehicle too?
Mind you, gliders are regularly towed around the Basingstoke area by normal 4 x 4s, (Lasham airfield has a glider club). Their trailers are huge.

Without going any further into it, a quick google about towing gliders reveals huuuuge cans of worms!

http://www.longmynd.com/HTML_pages/trailer_towing.htm (http://www.longmynd.com/HTML_pages/trailer_towing.htm)

"The critical question is whether the towing vehicle/trailer combination is legal, depending on their weights, and if it is what sort of driving licence is needed. For example a NIssan X-Trail has a MAM of 2050kg and a MTW of 4050 kg so with an LS6 Cobra trailer which has a MAM of 1300kg this is a legal combination. and only a category B licence is required. The DG505 trailer though, with a MAM of 2000kg, would still be legal on the X-Trail but would require a B+E licence to tow (total MTW > 3500kg and MAM trailer > VUW X-Trail)."

Lost me already Bobbi!  :P

Same here Bobbi :o

This is the bit I like
3.If the overhang is more than 3.05m, an attendant must be carried and the police must be notified 2 days before commencing the journey.

Luckly mine is just needs boards (Ordered)

Thought you might appreciate this picture (oh and I appologise at the quality, but I wasn't going to flatten it out so I could get it under a scanner!!). Just thumbing my way through the latest Rodders Journal to arrive and I came across this picture. It's of Pete Miller posing with his second incarnation of the competition coupe "Chicken Coupe" at the 1967 Winternationals, Pomona, with Ford power before at a later date changing to Chrysler power. This is the very car that ended up residing in the UK from 1970 under verious ownerships............................................

at some point theres also going to be an overhaul of driving licenses.
even us lot that have a paper license will lose driving 7.5's and certain trailer towing.
cannot remember when this is coming in though.

looking at my licence to other day got all the class's needed, but as its only going to be towed with my transit its well under weight and length.

Nice photo, not seen that one before, thanks for posting it.

It was a odd weekend with lots done but not much to show. I had to get there early Sat morning as Mark Norton from the Tech crew was coming later to check Steve & Lesley's two cars and mine (I know mines only just the safety cell, but this is all that needs to be checked at the moment) Steve had run out of gas and only managed to get a bottle in at the end of the week, so the first thing to do was weld in the last of the helmet bars, we bent a cut this and while Steve welded it in I started to rub down the chassis and other bits ready to give a coat of etch primer. I started on the steering box and battery mount using scotchbrite pads,
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis40.jpg)
Then I did other parts until I ran out of paint.
When Mark turned up he started with mine, even though we had done the chassis to the sfi regs I was still surprised to find it would tag to 7.50 but needed a plate with makers name, date of make and chassis number on it. Steve is getting one made in the week and then taking the chassis to another garage where a car is being tagged by the end of the week.
Steve & Lesley’s Black Pig Too was next and they wanted a 8.50 tag, this is what they got but by changing a couple of bars and fitting a plate, this would also go to 7.50. Their new altered chassis is made of chrome moly and mark checked it down to a 6.00 tag, so they were quite happy with that.
When Mark had finished I started to finish the tinwork, the first part was the belly pan, this needed tidying up and adjusting as we had now fitted the pins for the axle stands and the wheelie bars mounts at the back, I trimmed it where needed and when happy put it to one side. Time I done this it was nearly time to finish for the day, so we arranged all 5 cars in the workshop for a photo shoot, it was tight but we got them all in.
There is the S & L’s new altered (Minor Alteration) with Black Pig sitting next to it, Black Pig Too in front with Petro’s Model A comp coupe next to that and mine in the foreground.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/theshed.jpg)
We got back to The Shed about 10 the next morning and I started doing the top of the body, I marked around the front by the motor plate and trimmed it off, I sat there for ages carefully dressing the front around the edge, when happy I rubbed it down and started to mark out the cockpit area.
You have to have a wind deflector 5 x 12” so I drew a design on it until I was happy with the shape, But when I took it off to cut it I was not sure if I liked it or not, so after looking for a while I decided if I did not like it after cutting, more would have to come off so there would not be a problem.
I cut it out, cleaned it up and re fitted it to the chassis, it looked better than I thought it would and I like it, so after that took nearly all day to do it was time to make my way home.
I took the tubs and front of the body up with me this weekend, so we have decided that this is what we are going to do next time I am up, (The weekend after next) while in between this make up the wind deflector.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork21.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork22.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork23.jpg)

Erm, question from the idiot time.....Whats tagged? what are the different numbers for? what does checking for tagging involve?

Ok 3 questions!!  ::)

I'm guessing the numbers are the times the chassis is considered safe for?
For example, a 7.5 tag means the car's certified safe for runs of up to 7 1/2 seconds for the quarter mile?

Tagging is just that, they fix a sticker (Tag) onto the chassis with the date of inspection (Has to be done every 5 years) and the time its safe to.

Andy's right, the 8.50, 7.50 & 6.00 is the times they think the chassis is safe for (The speeds don't come into it even though two cars can cover the 1/4 mile in the same time, one might be going 20 mph faster through the finish line)

They have a big bag of tricks that not only measure the size of each tube, but also the thickness and another tester which can tell you what its made of (CDS (Steel)/chrome moly) it also depends where the tubes are fitted (Cross brace's and uprights and the sizes. its a bit of a minefield, With the MSA they only go to 8.50, so all the quicker cars have to be to FIA spec and theres about 10 or so diffrent type off chassis.(Front engine dragster, rear engine dragster, comp altered and all their variants)
Hope that helps

Yup that really helps!    ;)

Glad that cleared it up Bobbi  ;)

Had to get up early this morning, had a phone call that the ramps for the trailer had come in. I got down there just after 7 to give them the fittings and fit the braking system (4 threaded bars with special joiners) I got it adjusted the best I could and I had them make up a couple of guides to stop the bars from dragging on the ground. Its going to be sprayed on Monday and I have to pick it up first thing Tuesday morning. I have extended a trailer board lead at the moment, but will be fitting the lights and number plates to the backs of the ramps, I will also be fitting side marker lights and mudguards when its back up the garage.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer6.jpg)
Also if you notice, they cut out the rear cross member (Which was not meant to be there anyway) They were worried it would spring when it was cut out, but they had put cross members under both the rear beds, plus the top plate had been welded on, when they cut it, it did not move. There is no load on these rear parts as the rear tyres fit eather side of the cross member behind the axle. They are there to help loading and unloading and so the rear of the body and wheelie bars wont stick out.

This weekend was spent on doing the body. The first thing we did was set the chassis on the floor jig and put the axle and tyres on, we found there was about ¾ inch between the tyres and chassis, we set up the wheel tubs by Steve making some blocks to go between the tyres and the tubs, then marked and cut them so they would clear everything around the axle and brakes.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis43.jpg)
We fitted the body up on some stands and Steve cut some wood to hold the whole lot together. When all screwed down we cut out for the tubs leaving the bottom strip.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body34.jpg)
This is where I was very grateful to Steve & Lesley, when I extended and put a new roof on the Mini body, I put resin down and then put the glass on dry and keep on putting more resin on, this took ages to get all the air out. The way Steve and Lesley have found best to do it is to cut the glass into small manageable strips, then one of them soaks these in resin and when soaked, the other lays it on.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body40.jpg)
By the time we had finished the last coats (About 6 layers in all) and laid up under the hole, it was time to square things away and head off home.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body43.jpg)
Before I did, I wanted to trim off the excess on one side to see what it’s going to look like, but Steve stopped me as the glass was still wet, so I will have to wait until the next time (Weekend after next) then the frame for the body will be made and fitted.
more news as it comes in
Now on page 5
http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild5.html

Saw your body -the car, not you, when we visited a few days ago Tony. Looked huge propped in the corner of the workshop. The finished car's gonna be about 100 yards long isn't it?!
Are those right angled metal tabs I can see holding the arches into the body & fibreglassed over?

To answer to last part, yes, we used them to hold the tubs in place so we could remove the wooden frame, when the excess is trimmed off the outside, they will have a couple of layers covering them on the outside as well. I think they will help to stop it cracking with all the power  ::)

100 yards, it seams that way  ;D

Im sure there is a really good reason but whats the point of the body

This is my old car (Still have it)
(http://www.cunningplan.btinternet.co.uk/ap1.JPG)
I do like dragsters, but prefer something which looks like a real car, so this is a bit of both, (And will be used as both) with the body off, its a "slingshot dragster" and with it on its a "Comp Coupe"
So its a personal thing really.

Ah i see
So a comp coup is a bit like a show dragster then?

I thought you said "slow dragster" then :o, (might be right though) not realy, it's getting a bigger following these days that in the past, with about 6 that have just been built and (like mine) being built

In the early days Competition coupes were built so that, at the drags you could run in two classes...... Dragster and competition coupe just by fitting or removing the body, twice the fun with one car!!

Hi there cunningplan, Sorry to butt in on your thread, I was wondering as you seem to have been around the pod quite a lot, If you know of  an old friend of mine called frank griffin, He used to race a lot at the pod. And work at stateside auto's. Last i heard his son is racing there know. Be interested to hear from you if you know of him. Many thanks gnasher 6 ;)

Frank and his BROTHER Cliff run at Shakespeare (Long Marston/Avon Park) quite a few times a year, Frank managed to roll his at the 2008 Bulldog Bash and does not run anymore  (Now runs his own workshop building cars.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2JKSPdJ6I
He now crews for Cliff's Pop.

Hi there again cunning plan, Thanks for getting back to me :) Much appreciated. It's been about fifteen years since i last saw frank, We used to be good buddies years ago, Prior to that i had not seen him for quite a number of years, And just by chance one night i was reading my local evening paper and it mentioned frank and said he worked at stateside auto's' Which is not to far away from where i live, A couple of weeks or so later as i was passing there in my job at the time, As a hgv driver I thought i would call in and see him as i had not seen him in a number of years.
when i walked into the yard somebody asked me if they could help me, I said yes is frank about please, And they went and got him for me.
When he came out i hardly recognised him ??? :o, The frank i remembered had hair right down his back ( okay it was quite a few years ago, And we all age) But what surprised me most of all was that he had hearing aids in both ears, When we got talking, I said frank, I hope you do not mind me asking, But what's happened to your hearing, To which he said he had been racing drag cars for years, And at the time he had one of the fastest pop's on the strip, And all this had put paid to his hearing, But he said he absolutely loved it, He said nothing made him feel like it, Will you be racing at the pod this year cunningplan, I don't know when your build will be finished, But i will follow it with great interest, If you are down there this year i will try and get down there and watch you, with my two son's who really enjoy  it there, And give you some moral support. If your car is going to look like that number 32, It will sure look like some beast, And longer to. Thanks again for getting back to me, And keep up the good work ;) Gnasher 6.

Drag racing and hearing don't really go together, I use ear plugs while driving the cars but I had my hearing checked last year and its on its way out. I try to use ear plugs/defenders as much as I can, but sometimes your in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone starts their engine when your not prepaired.
My main track is Long Marston/Avon Park and now Shakespeare County Raceway and as Mankey said in another posting am a official up there (As well as being a MSA/ACU scrutineer I am also a ACU C of C and run the bike side of the big events held there) as well as a racer. I have raced up the Pod loads of times but have only been going up there about once a year lately to help up Race control.
From this weekend (Training) I'm up there nearly every other week until the end of October, I don't know when the new car will be finished, but when it does it will be debuted at Shackey. now the body is nearly sorted, once mounted we can finish the rest of the chassis.
I cant thank Steve & Lesley enough for what they are doing and have done to the car, not only that, they look after me while I am down for the weekends I can get down there, Cheers both.

i love a good body

Another fruitfull weekend at the shed, got there early Sat morning and set the chassis back up in the floor jig, stuck the wheels on and fetched the body, I trimmed off the bottom edges and we fitted it over the chassis (Putting the blocks on the tyres to keep it in place.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body45.jpg)
After checking it was all square we then put wood across the chassis to hold it in place. We designed a frame to be glued (With sikaflex) to go into the back to fit on the chassis frame.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe4.jpg)
We then made the chassis frame (Sprayed it and forgot to take a finished photo)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearmount2.jpg)
Once all this was finished we pulled the chassis out of the jig and sat it on the floor, I stuck two tubes into the front and wheeled it outside. I got a pair of Steve's wheels out of the shed and we measured out the 162 wheelbase and stuck them on place.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body52.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body53.jpg)
I know its my car, but sometime I hate the thing, but looking at it outside for the first time, I think its going to look good (Very good) and cant wait to finish it.
I am back up in two weeks, when the body is going to be taken back off so we can turn it over and Steve can finished welding a couple of bars inside, I can class the front on and even though we used sikaflex, I am going to glass over some of the frame as well.
At some point the main jig will be set up and the  chassis put back on so we can glue (As in weld and not sikaflex) the front end on, I took the heads up with me and we have to sort out the collectors at some point.

Jeez, that's long! Madder than a very mad thing Tony -& so's your car.  :P
Have you gained some rear wings, (fenders for our colonial cousins, not spoilers), since I last saw the body?

as in half way up on the last page?

Hi Cunningplan,
As someone who loves to watch the drag cars but know very little about them as my forte' has half as many wheels as yours, a question. The rear slicks appear to be really close to the wheel arches. Do you have to allow for tyre growth under power or do the modern MT's maintain their shape?
Cheers

With my old car I could do static burnouts so I made the archs with 4 inchs of clearance, but it you look at any of the burnout photos the tyre never went near. (same wheels and tyres on the new one)
(http://www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk/resources/gallery_fullsize/0326.jpg) 
I have given this one 2.5 inches as I will only be able to do rolling burnout so hopefully this will be enough

Looks mighty fine that does. Mighty Fine  8)

Just a quick pic of the missing frame (Thanks Steve) the front bar of the frame above (inside the body) drops into the slots, there are two small loops welded to it which drop into the small holes to stop the body moving forward when the body is down.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearmount5.jpg)

I will be doing a update tomorrow, but a couple of shots of a model who was just passing to show just how low we have managed to get it, (Not as low as the original as that had only a 3 point roll cage.) (And the body flips without hitting the tyres  ;D)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body71.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body70.jpg)

Looking great Tony.

Like yours as well, shame I could not come over with Steve & Lesley, but not got that much time.

I had the front bodywork to sort out so we could start making the frame. In the week I had bought some thin plastic sheet, I cut it into 4 inch strips and cut it to the length I needed, I then drilled holes every so often. I pop riveted the plastic to the main body (Putting Bees wax on the inside first) Then I lined up the front part and riveted that. I did the same across the top and the front join until it looked good.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body56.jpg)
We pushed the chassis outside, took the body off and put it upside down so I could class the underside. we decided to brace the bottoms of the tubs with bits of Pedro's roof, putting the cut outs in the corners so any stones had a place to fall out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body57.jpg)
I made the firewall and side window fittings
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body67.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body65.jpg)   
Steve welded up the four bars ready for Easter weekend
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fourbar1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fourbar2.jpg)
Steve and Lesley were away for Sunday, so in between fibre glassing I cut out any brackets needed for the next time.
(Site is now updated the build 5)
I am up for the Easter weekend (I have to work Friday) I will be taking the trailer up. The chassis will be going unto the jig and the front end welded on and hopefully the car will be coming home for a while.

Great progress Tony.
-why bees wax?

Its what you use as well as a release agent when making moulds so the resin don't stick. (And Steve & Lesley had a pot ready)

I've heard the phrase "Mind your own bees wax". Looks like you're minding theirs as well.

Just a quick one, the trailer is now ready for next weekend, it was painted where it was built, I have covered the under side and inside the tubes with waxoil, (And bungs fitted to the ends) all the the lights and wiring are fitted and working, I have other bits to fit when we get the car on the trailer like eyes for the straps and a couple of guides for the front wheels to sit in to stop them turning.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer8.jpg)
(The rear lights I liked only had reversing and not fog lights, so I have fitted red leds so they are now fogs.)

That's hee-uge Tony! Nicely made though.

Big enough for a charger maybe?
Tis a beast n half Tone, do the front wheels locate in the slots at the front end?

Charger, it would flattern it  ;) the new car should weight under 750 kgs, Charger about 2 tonne  ::)
Yes, (If I have measured right) they will help keep the wheels straight when loading & unloading and as I said there will be stops at the ends (Like you get on some bike trailers) to locate the wheel at the ends.

Nice trailer, shame about the car :-*

If I put a single wheel on the front would that be OK  ::)

The two ends are now joined and its home (well down the garage)
I set off early Sat morning with the trailer (Empty) and found that nice and stable. I got to the Shed at 9 just as Steve turned up to find the jig and chassis was already set up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/oddball.jpg)
(Dragster or Monster Truck?)
I was the first thing we were going to do, but Scottie was there the day before picking up his repaired parts, (The Pop which crashed the weekend before at Shakey, lost a front wheel (Including hub, disc & calliper) and it hit the front of Scottie & Gina's Coupe damaging the steering link, split wishbone and chassis.) and they had set it all up.
We knew it was going to be too short but Steve had a piece of 4 x 2 ready, we welded that in and set up the torsion bar into the front set for the 162 wheel base.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis46.jpg)
After a few bends and a few hours (Like about 20) and it was sitting on its own four wheels and was pushed outside.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis61.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis64.jpg)
Then after a few shots it was time to fit the body
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis65.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis70.jpg)
Here’s a drivers view
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis71.jpg)
And one of the happy driver
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis74.jpg)
It was time to try the trailer. It took a little time but we managed to get the car on (If only I thought about lifting the body before loading it  :( (it would have saved use quite a bit of time))
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer11.jpg)
And the van & trailer
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer10.jpg)
Once loaded it was time to make my way home, again it towed and handled great. I still have the fittings for the front wheels to sit in, but these and the eyes for the straps can't be fitted until the car is completely finished and we can set the nose weight.
I will be doing bits what I can up the garage like cleaning and etching the chassis where finished (There are the rear four bar mounts and cross braces, the steering pivot and other small brackets still to be welded on.
Due to track, holidays and family commitments my next visit to darkest Wiltshire will not be until the beginning of June.
I again would like to thank Steve & Lesley for all their help and hospitality, also John Munday for the use of the tube bender. Thanks John.

WOW! Lovely lookin beast, the car, not the driver  ;D. Another classic leaves Brock`s stable, he knows how to turn them out!

That's a hell of a machine Tony. Looks beautiful. Can't wait to see it in action.  ;D

Thanks both, I can't fault Steve's work, unlike mine  :o I made one of the cross braces a little short (Will not be wasted as they will fit somewhere else) went and made the same mistake when I made the next one  :'( It's at a angle both ends and I marked up the wrong side  >:(
Did'nt do it again though.

We won't tell anyone. Honest.  ;)

Nice job that. Very impressive  8)

you should realy be proud of that
how much of turning circle on that
realy nice be good to see it once it is in all its glory
al

Thanks for the comments, (Turning circle? at the moment it will be quite good, its not got any lock stops  ;))
The only real thing that bothered me about the body, was that the rear body lines each side were taken off when the wheel arch's were filled in.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body72.jpg)
So last week it was a trip to B&Q to look for something I could use to make a new one (I had already taken all the cut offs from the body to the local tip) I looked what shaped steel the had and then went and found the wood moldings. I picked up a piece of 21 x 5mm d section for a couple of quid.
I drilled some holes and screwed it on to have a look
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body73.jpg)
It looked good so I took it off, mixed up some resin and stuck it back on, gave it a couple of coats of fibreglass, a coat of etch primer.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body76.jpg)
The next day I bought a sander, sanded it down and sprayed in normal primer.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body77.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body78.jpg)
I have not put any filler on it yet (As I haven't got any yet) but it looks 100% better, all I have to do is the other side.

Details -it's all in the details isn't it. Makes the difference between a nice job & a great job.

nice looking, i'm not brave enough to pilot one of those!!!

  ..  Hagar  ..   ;D ;D ;D

But we know where having a go got him don't we?

When Steve said the chassis would be hard to paint, he was not joking. Put the car on the ramp yesterday and got down there at 8 this morning. I took the front and rear axles off (The rear was a bit of a sod on my own)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis75.jpg)
Welded the front ends of the chassis together and etch primed the whole chassis. (By this time the guys from the workshop were in and gave me a hand in turning it over.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis77.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis78.jpg)
I let it dry and gave it a rub down with wet and dry and a scotchbrite, had some dinner and gave it what seamed to be about ten coats, I have a spray gun which I use for the primer, but my friend Jon (Who's going to help with the body and spraying it) lent me a gun for the black, the pot was on top and its hard to get used to using it as I kept touching where I had just painted and it was hard to get in some of the places.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis81.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis82.jpg)
I also sprayed the rear axle and battery holder.
I was reading the paint tin, its semi gloss vinyl and said as long as what you are painting is dry and clean you don't need a primer, but I did not want to take a chance.
I have to go back in tomorrow to put the axles back on and get it back on the trailer. (Came of very easy as the chassis just passes between the gap at the rear.)
I have arranged with Jon to start on the body next week, I don't think it going to be that bad and we are only going to get it into primer as the front subframe is still to be fitted.

I don't know anything about dragsters,but i love that painted chassis,looks great  ;)

Does indeed. Looks more gunmetal grey, rather than black, but really shows off the tubework well.

She looks superb! Almost a shame to cover that metalwork with fiberglass.

Thanks, its getting there. (Slowly)
Heres a couple of pics from this morning with the axles back on
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis84.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis86.jpg)
and a couple of how it gets onto the trailer.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer13.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer14.jpg)

Between MOT tests today, I dicided to see what the wheelie bar and rear subframe would look like in gold. I have some spray cans with siver and gold and laquer.
First I did the wheelie bar and when finished bolted it on and had a look, I liked it and did the frame.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis89.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis90.jpg)

did someone go to asda,s  where,s the other three wheels ,,,,,,,,,,,, on a trike ,lol,

 ;)

In keeping with the rear frame and wheelie bar, I have now sprayed the pedals and anti rotational bar the same.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/pedal4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/pedal5.jpg)
After work today Jon and myself started on the body, while Jon started on the front end, I sanded down all the mould seams and started on the other wheel arch.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body79.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body80.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body82.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body83.jpg)
I have to go down to Cardiff straight after work tomorrow, but Jon will be doing a couple of hours on it.
I also have a busy weekend and it will be next week before we have another skint on it, Jon thinks with primer filler it's only going to take a couple of days to get it ready for paint. as the body is quite well made (Even with my body mods)
The front subframe is still to be made, so the painting will be the last thing to be done to the car.
More news as it happens

I planned to make my own headers with the help of Steve, I bought the flanges, pipe and Steve had some collectors.
BUT, like normal after doing a search I found a set from Stahl headers which I liked and could easily be turned upside down. I ordered them about 6pm Monday (13th) and they turned up 1pm today. not a bad  :D
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers5.jpg)

Lovely!

Sounds a bit sad, but oooh, ain't they pretty!

Tiss sad  ::) but I realy like the ones on your pop

Mutual male pipe appreciation!  :-*

Just started page 6. http://www.cunningplan.net/thebuild6.html

I might have jumped the start this time, but I though "Sod It". I always wanted the have a silver flake front beam and gold flake 4 bars but did not know what they would look like, so last Friday I painted the axle and Monday (Yesterday) I painted the 4 bars & front cross bar. I went in early this morning to put it back together and see, well I like it but what do you think?
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontend2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/frontend4.jpg)
I said I jump started as the beam is realy not finished, but its all done in 1k paint and will be easy to redo if needed.
Tonight, Jon and myself finished the bodywork ready to prime it with 2k primer filler which will be done next week.
Again while Jon done the back end, I done the window openings and finished the wheel archs.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body84.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body86.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body88.jpg)
I'm sorry about the quality of the photos, but I keep on forgetting to take my camara with me and have to use the one on my phone.

that john ,,,, must be an o.k. bloke as he seems to be doing ,,,most,,, of youre work  ;D

Looking great matey.  8)

Known Jon for years, his old man used to have a body shop and he works now repairing cars for a living, so I just leave it to him, cant fault his work and hes quick.

Its ages since I last worked on the car, but I have just the last 3 weeks completely gutting and fitting a new bathroom (Including floor & ceiling) now it’s finished, I have started working on the car again.
After work one evening, I started on the wiring and managed to finish the main panel, that’s as far as I have got as I want to keep the wires to a minimum, I need all the bits in place to find out where to route it.
I had to get up early Wednesday morning to get to Anthony's to have Phil & Dai cut and weld on the front gusset on the chassis.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis91.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis92.jpg)
This evening it was down the garage with Jon, we cleaned up all the underside of the body and sprayed it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body90.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body91.jpg)
Steve has also been busy with the exhausts; I took the collectors (3 inch) and a length of 4 inch pipe for him to make some cones up with me to the Mini Showdown.
I think he has done a great job.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers6.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers14.jpg)
(These will have removable baffles fitted)
I have a meeting at Shakey this weekend and have planned to go to Steve & Lesley’s for the next couple of weekends after.
Next week Jon and I will be getting the body in primer and I hope to start getting the wheels ready to be painted.
More news as it happens.

Lots of progress Tony.
Did I hear somewhere that there's going to be noise limits on drag car exhausts soon? Will they all need proper silencers? Shame if that's the case cos the noise is half the attraction for me!

   "I had to get up early Wednesday morning to get to Anthony's to have Phil & Dai cut and weld on the front gusset on the chassis."

      ;)  :-X

From the beginning of this year they have introduced noise limits for some class's including Pro ET, but does not include (At the moment) Wild Bunch. The limit is quite high at 120db compaired to say rallying and sprinting where its 102 tops.
Why I mentioned Pro ET is that at some of the big meetings at The Pod (like the Euro Finals) they don't run the Wild Bunch, so some of the Bunch run in Pro ET instead, so its would be nice if I could do the same.

As to Brock's comment. I am thinking of getting Ryan to do put some pin stripes on the panel as its looking a little plain at the moment (Mind you, that's only primer and it will be satin black like the rest of the chassis)  ::)

its looking good  :)

Last night it was back down the garage "Watching" Jon do all the work. It was a quick wipe down with thinners
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body93.jpg)
Then two coats of 2k primer filler with the first going on very heavy.(It makes a Jaffa orange look smooth)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body94.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body95.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body96.jpg)
We sprayed the inside last week a dark grey colour and when we got down there last night I did not like it, I have already got another couple of tins, but will exchange them for black.
On Thursday I will be taking down the trailer and chassis so we can put the body back on for the weekend, but before we do, Jon is going to spray a black guide coat on.
It’s up to the shed for the first time for ages this weekend with the first thing to get the front body mount finished so I can then leave the body each time I go up.
As you can see, there is still lots to do and not that many weekends I can work on it (5) before the HRDs, all I can say is "If it’s ready, it will be going, if not, it will be the Halloween meeting"

Just a quick update before I go back to darkest Wiltshire.
Took the trailer with the chassis on down to the garage we are doing the bodywork in, its not much unlike The Shed as it down a country lane but the gate in is a little on the tight side. Had to drive in, take the trailer off and turn it around, then turn the van around. While I was doing this, Jon put a quick guide coat on.
We carried the body from the garage and stuck it back onto the chassis. (I have put a couple of hooks at the front to stop it dropping over the front of the motorplate)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body99.jpg)
(The garage with the red doors is where we are working in)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body101.jpg)

That is a hell of a beast Tony!

Hope so Andy  ::)
We were going to start with the front body mount, but Steve thought the steering would be the best way to go.
I had already bought some oilite bush's for the middle pivot, so I started by making the drop arm. I found some 6mm flat and marked it out, cut it out with a disc cutter, drilled a few holes and tapped for the rod ends.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering18.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering19.jpg)
While I was doing this, Steve machined up and welded the pivot and then welded that to the chassis.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering22.jpg)
Steve had already made the front steering arm, but it was blank, so after we worked out where the rod end needed to go, I again cut and drilled it. (All the holes for the rod ends are tapped, but will also have lock nuts fitted)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering24.jpg)
The rear link was dropped down to clear the body mount, but more of that later.
At first, we fitted the rear link above the front one on the pivot (Like the one on Crescent Coupe) but it was to high geared with only half turn each way for lock to lock, so we swapped them around and it feels a lot better.
After we finished the steering we started on the front body mount.
We bent up the sub frame to go into the body and Steve welded it up.
While he was doing this I decided to try to get the car back on the trailer to see if the steering would clear.
I had to raise the front up a little for the chassis to clear the first trailer cross member and it went on. It was then that I noticed that if we made the frame mounts for the body as we had designed, I would have not been able to get the car on or off without a lot of problems (Like jacking the front of the trailer about 4 foot in the air, or making 10 foot ramps) So it was back to the drawing board and redesigning it.
Instead of the steering rod going through the mount, It now goes under it and its a lot shorter than planned.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe9.jpg)
Here is the front frame ready for fitting when fully welded.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe8.jpg)
There will be a rearward brace off this to chassis, but it was while Steve was welding this, the gas ran out and that was the end of that for now.
There is a MIG in the garage so we started to make the headers instead. As I have said, I will have remove able silencers fitted in case I want to enter Pro ET at any events.
I had put a small flare on the ends of the silencer pipe, so I dropped the flair end into the cone and marked it flush to the end. I marked and cut half inch down put slits around the ends and bent them out 90'. The will have exhaust wadding bound around them and pushed into the ends secured by a bolt.
We also measured how much I wanted the collector to go into the cone and it was welded in.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers16.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers17.jpg)
I will be going up again next weekend and so have left the car up there, Steve is going to finish off the mounts and weld the other cross remembers which hold the rear of the four bars.
Next weekend it is planned to fit the engine and make the mounts.
As normal, more news as it comes in.

Those pipes are gorgeous Tony.
You're fair stormin' along now. Lookin' great.

Just a quick update before my trip back to the shed in the morning.
Steve has finished off the mounts which bolt to the chassis and has made the connector to join the two parts together. As the body will only be raised now and again, I am using pip pins.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe10.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe12.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe13.jpg)
Plan for the weekend is to sercure the body to the chassis, then stick the engine in and make the front mounts.

Pippins?

No not
(http://www.paulgenesse.com/images/characters_pippin_800.jpg)

pip pins
(http://www.nordet.co.uk/images/pippin.jpg)

I was thinking of Pippin of Pogles Wood, but maybe I'm showing my age, (always found that series a bit creepy).

Pogles Wood (http://www.pogleswood.org/)

I don't understand how your Pogles, Pippins, work.

dayh push through da ole or sleeve and da ,,pip,, on da ,,pin,, stops em ,,droppin,, owt,,, ;) ;)

As Spanners said. you pull the ring on the end and the two balls (Pips) go into the pin, you push the pin through the hole, let the ring go and the balls pop back out stopping the pin from coming back out.

Been over a week since I got back from the shed, but work in the house (Like hanging new doors and finishing off the bathroom at last) and the Bulldog Bash (The best ever I've been to, saw three bands I.ve always wanted to see, Bad Manners, The Dammed and Status Quo.  “What could be better???)  got in the way.
Got up early Sat morning and got there about 9, the first thing we done was write on the white board what we needed to do over the weekend.
The first thing was to finish the front body mount, weld on the fittings and fit it to the body.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodyframe14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/bodymount15.jpg)
The body will only have to be raised when the car is unloaded and loaded; there is no room inside to do any work with it on so the body will have to come completely off, which we did next so I could bond and rivet the frame into it.
Then it was another complete strip down of the chassis so Steve could fully weld the front 4 bar mounts and cross brace. This time we had a little help from Tom & Craig from The Ferret Wild Bunch team, not only did they give us a hand but also bought some sticky buns with them.
With this done, it was time to refit the gearbox and then the engine
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox27.jpg)
With this in place we measured and Steve plotted out the front motor plate (I was going to take the timing chain cover off for a template, but remembered that I would have to drop the sump.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginemount1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginemount2.jpg)
While Steve was doing this, I fitted the gear change and linkage and made and fitted the reverse lockout, this is a cable pull fitted alongside the steering column, when pulled it pulls the original lever on the gear change. The only problem I have is the linkage, due to the length and the flimsiness, it’s a bit sloppy, I have got some new joints now and will soon be making a new linkage.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/reversepull1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/reversepull2.jpg)
We fitted the plate and marked it out for a better shape and cut it out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginemount3.jpg)
We refitted the body and checked for clearance, there is no room between the left hand head and the engine plate; this was made worse when the rocker covers were fitted. The only way I and going to do it is cut the front body plate around the top of motor plate and top tin work, (With maybe a seal around the edge.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox28.jpg)
When all was marked off on the board it was getting time to go home, so we lifted up the body and pushed it onto the trailer, It would not go on as the front body mounts were just hitting the tops of the ramps. As I needed to know where the car was going to sit with the engine in, I could not mount the winch (Which was sitting in the van) If this was fitted, it would have gone on.
So I went and started to use the jockey wheel to raise it up a bit, then the thing broke. I took the trailer off the van, put a couple of axle stands under the back and used my jack to lift the front. It was hard work, but we got it on.
I have a nose weight gauge in the van and set it to 60 kilos, Steve marked out where the front wheels were and I strapped it down. I had to phone my son to help me put the car back in the yard when I got home.
Like my old trailer, I want to be able to load and unload the car on my own, so the work on the car has stopped until the trailer is fully finished. I have a new heavy duty jockey wheel already, there will be drop down legs fitted to the rear, A box will be fitted between the rails at the front where all the bits for the car will be kept and most important of all, the winch will be fitted. (I am toying with the idea of getting an electric one)
To be honest, I can’t see the car being out for this year, but as I’m not in a hurry, I would rather have everything fully finished than going out and having problems.

One of the big problems when we fitted the engine into the chassis was that the oil filter would not fit, so when I got home I searched the internet (ebay) for a solution. In the end I found someone in the States that sold a 90' adaptor which will turn 360'. To fit you have to take the threaded part what you screw the oil filter onto out of the block. The tread is 3/4, but when I unscrewed it, the fitting into the block was 1 inch. I contacted John (Hunter) last night by email and in a flash (Well just after dinner time today) he came to the garage. I gave him the parts and less than a couple of hours later they were sitting back in the garage ready to fit. The adaptor will be locktight-ed into the block and the filter housing will be bolted into it. Was going to do it this afternoon but MOT tests got in the way, will try tomorrow.
So a big thankyou to John  ;D

Sounds like the Plan's coming together!

Well it is a cunning one,
No problemo Tony,Glad i could  help.

Cheers  ;)

I forgot to take a photo of the adaptor that John made but here's the filter housing in place.
Look! plenty of room now.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox29.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox30.jpg)

That loo :)ks like it worked then.

that filter adapter looks very much like one that was fitted to ford commercial diesels back in the 1980,s  may be worth bearing in mind for future spare,s etc

i,ll look through some of my old engine parts lists when i get chance ..

Finally got off my arse and sorted (I hope) out the trailer, I took some measurements I needed in the week and went down Anthony’s very early Sat morning.
First I knocked up the stand for the winch, and then made the front box. I even managed to weld them both up myself and weld them to the trailer when I got back to the garage later.
When I got to the garage I started buy drilling the holes for the front wheel holders, I then welded them in when they lined up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer17.jpg)
As I did not know the angles for the winch post so I had cut the side bar bigger. I held it in place and Delbert (Not his real name (Its Kyle)) marked it from underneath. I cut the bits off and Del held it in place while I tacked it in place and then fully welded it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer15.jpg)
With this fitted I slotted in the front box,(I say slotted as it was a nice tight fit) I was going to bolt it in place but in the end welded it in. It’s going to be lined out and will be used for the bits needed for the car. (I still have to make some sort of lid.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer16.jpg)
While down the welding shop, I knocked up some hooks to be welded to the trailer to take the hold down straps.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer18.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer19.jpg)
When I finished welding the winch post, I sprayed it with some paint they had down there, when I sprayed the whole lot down the garage it reacted with it and it looks like cracked ice. I quite like it and if it wouldn’t be so hard I would like the whole trailer done like it. 
Del is a member of a local classic car club and they had their show today in Aberdare Park, he asked me if I would take the car and I said I would.
I was going to take the car of the trailer at the park but the weather was not that good, so I didn’t have a chance to try getting it on and off.

   Nice jockey wheel , will it lift the van ?

   I looked at that second shot up and thought there's been a little photo manipulation going on there ............... at first glance I thought you had a centre cap in the wheel   ;D

Some people spend large amounts of money on a Metalflake product called Vreeble that does exactly that!!

Dont know yet  ::)

And me mess with the photos  ;)

And thats what I thought

Lovely to meet you at the weekend, Tony.

And I've not forgotten what you said...  ;D ;D ;D

"Meet me behind the bleachers & don't forget the gasmask & custard"?

You've been following me around with that remote pick-up microphone again havent you, Mankster...  ;)

I just remember your predeliction for young men & dairy products Missy Wizz.  :)
How's things goin' on t'other side o' pond?

You have too good a memory.  ;D

Ask me that question again this time next week when I'll be home again. :)

Would that be Blighty home or Yankee home?

Yankee home.  ;D ;D

Pah! I dunno. Some ex pat shows you his hotrod & you're off. What've they got that we haven't, answer me that, eh, eh?  :(

Same here, good to meet you (and the offer still stands,) Doc (TP) Tony oily bike & Dslam and quite a few other people over the weekend
despite the weather, it was a brilliant weekend, I even did not make the clubhouse Sat night (Worked from 8 to 8 ) as I was nodding off after my dinner.

Yep, we said the same thing - we had a great weekend in spite of the weather. We wandered over to the clubhouse for a little while on Saturday night before ambling off to eat cheese and biscuits. Way too rock 'n' roll!

Oh, and offer well and truly accepted, young man! 

Er ... sun, blue skies, warmth, In-and-Out Burger, big roads, sun, small roads, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, sun, cool cars, rust-free cars, cheap cars, sun, valet parking, more sun...

But, apart from that...  ;) And I wasn't impressed by the ex-pat's hot rod for long.

You know how to flatter someone  ;)

Its not often I ask for a opinion, but I'm going to anyway.
I've been working on the headers between work the last couple of days and have come up with
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers18.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers19.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers20.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers21.jpg)
They are only tacked and held up with a bit of wood and to be honest would take quite a bit of work to alter.
I do like them as they are "But what do you think??"

dont think the wooden prop will last too long on the strip  :D :D :D
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
other than that they look about right  :)

I like them.

As flattery, that was one of my more rubbish efforts. But I do. :)

In the great tradition of "Give us a Clue" I will now mime the flattering phrase of "The Dog`s Dangly Bits" ...
Coz that`s what they are !!!!!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Nooooo !!!!!!!!!!    .......  please put your kit back on  .....  or at least stop licking  that   ...........    ;D


  ..  Hagar  ..   ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;D

Don't think the zipties will work they'll melt. :D












But looks good to me.

Here I am sitting in the van waiting for the RAC to take me home, was going up the Pod for the weekend but the timing belt tensioner has decided to call it a day, good thing is that I am sitting in a MacDonald's between Swindon and Oxford, so at least have had something to eat and wifi. and as soon as they come, off home again (Phoned up and told them the problem)
Anyway, bit quite this afternoon, so pulled the trailer down the yard and took the car off to have a look, good thing is that I like the look, so will be keeping it like it, the only thing I am going to do is insted of putting the collector pipe at a angle to clear the tyre, I am going to weld it straight to the pipes, pie cut behind it and weld it back up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers22.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers23.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers24.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers25.jpg)
Hopefully get the part for the van before next weekend and might even do some work on the car over the weekend.

Thats a bugger about your van Tone  :(

Yeah, but as you say, at least you've got somewhere warm & dry to wait.
The car's a bit of a beast isn't it Tone! Gonna look amazing out on the track.

ME THINKS IF YOU WORKED LIKE used too you would have kept a ,,,belt ,kit,, under the seat and  done the job in less than 20 mins,,  :P

after all its a transit  ;)

Got a brand new belt behind the seat, never thought about the tensioner   :'(
(Got a pin kit somehwere in there as well)

Looks like Steve has been busy. I gave the wing frame to Chris (Crazy) Hartnell to skin it; I've had it back for a while now but put it to one side. The other week I drilled and pop riveted it together, bought some alloy bar, drilled and tapped the ends and then pressed them into the ends of the wing.
I marked out the shape of the side plates out of card and gave them to Steve last weekend. He marked them out of thick alloy, cut and bolted them on. (They will be riveted as well)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing12.jpg)

Where is that gonna fit Tony?

right at the front over the axle, looks bigger but its only 15 x 9 inchs.

Good news, the van is up and running, it feels like its a little down on power but that will have to wait until I come back off holidays.

Hurrah! Holidays? Where you off to Tone?

England  ;D

Exotic foreign climes eh? Come on over -it's positively sub tropical here at the moment!

rented a caravan in north Kent for a few days then off to Eastbourne to see Mum for the weekend. Taking the grand kids (And Mrs Plan) My son was born in Chapham and will take them to where we lived when we had him, also if it still there (Will look after writing this) Chatham docks.

Just seen the price  :o might just show them the outside.
Not the sub I was on but the same class, on mine (Onyx) my bunk was the top front one, dont think I could sleep in there now  ;D
(http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/images/larger/ZZ_1161017533_JuniorRatesMess_sm.jpg)

I thought that was your rented caravan & was admiring the size of the tumble drier.  :P

Call myself a fitter  :-\ checked the timing today and it was one tooth out on the cam and half (It would take ages to explane that) on the pump. Pinned it up, but must have gone wrong somewhere. Now running better and quieter than it has done for years.  ;D

Well done Sherlock ;D

i understand the ,,half, tooth  :) :)  done the same myself in the past  ;)

be more wiring on that than behind your dash m/m

 :D
At least if mine packs up I can just pull over to the side of the road. Not so simple when you're 20,000 leagues under the sea.

As it is the first weekend spare I've had for weeks (We did go to Chatham docks after, we are members of English Heritage and got discount, worth going and the tickets lasts a year)
Didn't get as much as I liked but its all forward progress.
At the Hot Rod Drags I picked up a Kingpin kit and decided to start on my front end.
I stripped the front end off the car and took it into my office, C C have done a "How To" this month how to fit them, they just did not look right with the thrust washer at the top and after a phone call to Steve they were put on the bottom. (And when I got home I looked in C C and it was then I noticed the first two pictures show the axle upside down  >:()
As its a tube axle, there is no place for the cotter pins to fit, so I have done what Steve and quite a few others have done, I drilled two holes in each side and tapped them for grub screws. In the photos they are not fully in yet as next weekend I am taking the axle up the track so Steve can drill the kinpins and make the lock stops.
Even thought there is no play in the old bearings, they will be changed after I get the axle back from Steve.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/kingpin1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/kingpin2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/kingpin3.jpg)
The other week I measured up the space for the fuel tank, after I drew up a design I went and bought some wood and dowel, measured and cut it all out and made a frame, in the week I will be bending some hardboard around it. After I check it for fit, we will use it to bend up the tank.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank3.jpg)
More to come soon

Tony What are you going to make the tank out of.

Alloy John

Alloy John, gotta new motor?
Who supplied the kingpin kit Tony? I need to replace the bearings in mine too, but the Custom Car magazine article didn't say where it came from. How much if you don't mind me asking? Did you hand ream them, as per the article? By coincidence, Ol Skool Rodz magazine ran a feature on this last month too.

I got them from Pops Place at (Whisper) 72quid  :'(
I have asked John (Hunter) if he had a reamer, just needs to know what size, yes you do it by hand, bit at a time and creep up to size.

Not much creeping going on up here :o



So how big is it then ;)

I will measure the old pin and let you know. (Real money or mm?)

Been a busy couple of days, between and after work, down the garage and in the house, I have been tweaking the headers and finished and trial fitted the "buck?" for the tank. I had already set up one side of the headers, so with the wood I had left for doing the tank, I drilled it to fit the flanges and bolded the part finished one and the flange for the other each side of it.
I cut down the other pipes and fitted them into the flange and tacked them in place, I used the wood to line them both up. The only problem I had was that one side was lower than the other, I tried twisting the whole 4 pipes together but couldn’t, so cut the straps and did them one at a time until both side matched, then I tacked the pipes back together on the ends. Now when the sit on the floor upside down there is no rock.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers26.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers27.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers28.jpg)
Last night after work using a steamer to bend some hardboard over the tank frame and tacked it in place, I had a few problems with the main one that I should had used thicker wood, as it kept on splitting. Anyway, I managed to finish it and took it down the garage this morning to try it in the frame. I put a couple of straps around the bottom frame and sat it on top. I am very pleased with the way it looks and sits. It will have just a rounded front, but the back will be like a funnel, tapering down with the fuel feed at the end like the original on Crescent Coupe.
We will use the buck to bend the alloy around, so I have wrapped it in gaffer tape to help make it smoother (Hides the nail heads).
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank6.jpg)
Next week I am taking the headers up my friends where I will be brazing the tubes into the flanges. This is what the company who I bought the headers recommend, it helps stop them cracking at the flange. I can’t weld the silencers on until I trial fit the headers, then I can tack them in place and then fully weld them.

Some luvverly pipework there Tony.

Last weekend, Steve gave me back the finished wing and supports. The supports are all the same length and it relies on the bottom mounts to give the right angle.
Today I went into work early trial fitted it. Its mounted on the end of the torsion bar mount plates.
I have looked at the photos of Crescent Coupe and it looks not far off the same, but as the front axle is down Steve's, I think it looks too high/odd, will have to wait until I get the axle back on and then see what it looks like.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing13.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing15.jpg)
Tomorrow evening I am going straight up my mate Moony's to weld up the headers, so hopefully another update and photos tomorrow.

Here I am not long back from Moony's and I hope all my measurements are correct as the headers are now fully welded (Brazed) As I brazed the pipes into the flanges, I gas welded the rest together.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers29.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers30.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers31.jpg)
Will be trying them on Saturday.

If they don't fit, I can always be




SUPER HEADER 

(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers32.jpg)

The rocketeer.  8)

DAVID BOWIE,S rocket man :D :D :D

The name is.....Bond..........Basildon Bond.................................... ;D ;D ;D ;D

More Like Brook. ;D ;D

More like a PG Tips monkey.

Damn!!!! I wish I`d thought of that one  ::) ::) ::) ::)

Less of your lip or I'll fly over and drop something on you lot (Hunters first)  ::)
I'm the new super hero  ;D

Wasn't the monkey and the tea originally  brook bond :-\

 ::)

After going to the local scrap yard for some seatbelt fittings and then the hardware store for some wire brush's to fit into a drill, I got to the garage just before 11.
The night before, we had already pushed the trailer and car into the MOT bay ready. The first thing I did was to trial fit the headers to see if they fitted, they did and looked good.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers33.jpg)
I took them back off, used the wire bush's to give one side a good clean, I wiped them down with thinners and painted it with BBQ black while having a hot air gun aimed into the pipe to warm it up.
While waiting for that one to dry, I took off the heads had a quick check and clean of the engine, I fitted the head gaskets and torque the heads down. I fitted the push rods and found that they seem to be too short, not sure what I going to do yet, but it looks like I need some 0.4 longer.
The paint had dried on the first set of headers and refitted them (After tapping out all the holes)
I then did the same to the other side headers and painted them.
Again while I waited for them to dry, I started on the front of the chassis. The seat belt bit are for the winch and towing duties, I welded the metal tongue to the underside at the front and fitted the receiver to the winch strap. (I have some more strap for the tow rope and a receiver will be also be fitted to this) this will help make it quicker for me to load and unload.
I bought some black etch primer the other week and mixed some ready. I cleaned and rubbed down the entire front end and gave it a couple of coats ready of the top coat. I think it looks better in the black.
After fitting the other header, we pushed it all outside and took some photos.
 (http://www.cunningplan.net/headers34.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers35.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers36.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers37.jpg)
 (http://www.cunningplan.net/headers38.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers39.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers40.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers41.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing16.jpg)
On the 19th they are turning on the lights in Tonypandy and they are making a day of it, don’t know why, but I have been asked to take the car down there, I’m thinking about it!

Not even finished & you're a celebrity already!  8)
That's turning into a stunning looking Cunning Car Tony.

hhhhhhhmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!! BBQ Black??????????? I see a new Viagra scheme on the horizon  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Tip of the week  ;)
If you want black exhausts, go to the local DIY store and pick up a tin of ether BBQ black (Satin finish) or Stove black (Matt finish) both are heat resistant (but not cheep.)
Been using it on the race car exhausts for the last ten years, I have always heated the pipes before spraying, like all exhaust paints, it smokes on start up but lasts for ages.

I was thinking of the whole engine actually  ;D ;D ;D ;D

To be honest, after I finished the exhausts I was thinking the same, I normly use two pack, but that costs more, I will try it and see.

I use the BBQ Paint when i refurb bike brake calipers.
The satin Finnish is the same as original Finnish.

Looks like I will be buying a few more cans before I finish the car.  :o

cheap skate  :D :D :D

I was talking to Steve (Brock) last night and I thought  ::) Steve thought the struts would look better on the insides of the wing and axle, so I tried it today and it does look a lot better. I am glad that I Steve thought of it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing17.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing18.jpg)
What do you think?????
(Sorry about the photos, it was starting to get dark time I finished)

Lovely lovely lovely!!  :) :)

definitely inside geezer.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

STOP ,,thinkin,, keep doing  ;)

   " I wish I had said that "

   " Oh you will Oscar , you will "

   
    ;D
 

 ;D

In the posting above I said
"I fitted the push rods and found that they seem to be too short, not sure what I going to do yet, but it looks like I need some 0.4 longer."
I have found I had the wrong size Poly-locks, the ones I have are for fitting on true roller rockers and not the pressed type I am using. The problem was that when adjusted the lash, the top of the poly-lock was flush with the top of the stud, so there was no room for the lock screw.
So yesterday morning, I ordered a set of longer ones and some lash caps from Real Steel, they arrive not long after I opened up at nine this morning, so this afternoon, I tried one for size and its solved the problem.

Poly locks? Are they like Nylocs?

Dontcha no nuffin Andy? Theyre parrot cage clips!  ;D
 Seriously tho' that Coupe is looking VERY VERY nice ! Have always liked that style.Keep up the good work mate!

No, they are long nuts with a grub screw in the top, you adjust the tappet and tighten the grub screw onto the top of the stud to stop it coming loose.
(http://www.rafeecorvair.com/images/609POLC.JPG)

Stoopid, but learning a little bit more each day mate.  ;)

Until Tuesday, the Coupe has lived behind (That's only when its open) the gate up the top of the yard, its a bit of a pain, when I want to work on it as I always need someone to help get it back in place when I've finished. The recovery truck on the other hand lives down the bottom of the yard. So I asked the boss if I could change places and he said that I could. So we did.
This morning when I got into work, the young boy had opened up and said that there was a problem and pointed down the yard, I hadn't noticed when I walked in that the truck was now back down the bottom, had hit my trailer and pushed through the wall and railings behind. Luckily there was not much damage to the trailer with it comfined to bending the bar holding up the ramp and the light guard getting a bit bent (Saved the lights)
We never leave the handbrake on as the truck hardly get used these days and it seems like the boss had forgotten to put it back in gear after he started it yesterday and sometime during the night it had decided to go back where it lived   :-\
It could have been worse and landed up on Pandy Square down below and the damage has been repaired, just the wall and railings to fix now
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer20.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer21.jpg)

Sheesh, that could've been a lot worse Tony. A narrow escape.
So is the coupe O.K?

ooooppssss

The latest saga with the valve gear. When I thought I had solved the problem with the valve lash. It is the first time I have used Poly-Locks, I was not happy with the amount of grub screw sticking out the top. I did a search for longer push rods and found that the 460 Ford used a 3/8 x 8.68, these are 0.28 longer than the standard 351c ones. Yesterday morning I ordered a set of Comp Cams Magnum ones from Real Steel and they arrived this morning.
During a bit of spare time this afternoon I fitted them and I am very happy with the result.
Below are the locks as there were, the shorter push rod sat on top of the new ones and the locks as they are now.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine3.jpg)

hey,, mister,????  will dem  mek, it, go,, faster,,,,,,,,, ;)

No but they will stop it breaking  :o
Its the thing on the bottom end which hope fully make it faster  ::)

Even I can see that's better Tony.  :)
I've bought a few bits & pieces for my own engine & carb from Real Steel. Very knowledgable guys & good, fast service.

real steel  that name about fits ,,,,,,,,,, are you made of money  :o :o :o

Been using them for years and always had very good service and advice from them.
Priced the same parts up from the states and with the postage, inport tax and VAT it works out cheeper than it would have done a year ago.

Cool. When I was on the Street Rodder Tour last year I did a tour of the Comps Cams factory in Memphis last year and it was great - proper machining by hand by blokes in dungarees. And they fed us too, so obviously I was impressed.

what by ????-----------------------being fed  ;)

 :P

I have been told that most of the old cam shops are a little like that (Old skool and not the feeding bit) would love to go to a place like that.

Here's a couple of pics from that trip. No photo of the food, though. That was very remiss of me.

(http://i39.tinypic.com/p13ph.jpg)

(http://i41.tinypic.com/1xj81.jpg)

That looks so primitive

I took my car down Tonypandy town centre today as part of the Christmas light turning on celebrations.
During the week I took the carb and filter off the mini and fitted it to the coupe, it’s only a 600cfm but I only fitted it for the display. I like the way it looks so will be keeping the stack on when the new 750 is fitted.
Now that all the valve train is sorted, I had bought a oil pump primer so used it to see if it worked. At first I had forgot that I had removed the oil pressure switch and had oil squirt out of the hole all over the back of the engine and gearbox. This sorted; I used it until I had oil coming out of every rocker. (I had to turn the engine over a couple of times.)
I don’t know what the pressure was as I need a adaptor to fit the new gauge, but I nearly burnt out the drill (I had to remember to turn it anti clockwise as that’s the way the dizzy turns in a Ford)
I wanted to sort out the body firewall, so I went down early this morning and with the help of Jon quickly cut out a new one which will clear the engine. So as long as the left side rear rocker cover T handles are in the right place it now clears, this will be classed into the body. At the moment there is a gap between this and the engine plate (As, if it’s any longer, it would hit when you raise or lower the body) I am going to see if I can find some sort of flexi material to go in between.
Heres a couple of photos from down there.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body102.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/body103.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wheel19.jpg)
Do you like the new Wild Bunch hub caps

You're a celebrity Tony!
Lookin' good. love that air filter. 

Looking good Tony,i must call down and see it in the raw.

god tony it must be rough around youre area

its rough around here at time,s   theyve been known to ,nick, wheels

but it looks worse where you are  cozz they left youre wheels,, but ,,nicked,, youre front axle  :D :D :D :D

 :D ;D ;D ;D like that one!!!

It was the last weekend of the year to take to car to Steve & Lesley’s (Sorry no photos this time, at the end of the weekend when I went to take some, the cameras battery gave up)
The plan was to get the engine running but as you will find out, it was near but didn’t happen.
I got to the shed just after nine; the first thing to do was fit the front axle and get the car off the trailer into the shed. As it was a straight push back we did not notice that there was only ¼ turn to the left and nearly 2 to the right. We checked and checked everything and could not work it out, it was not until we had stripped the steering right off we found that the shaft had turned at the drop arm end. It was a very tight fit and was also pinned, the only thing we can think of is that when we had the car off the trailer the last time, we were turning it by the wheels; this put too much strain on the joint. While the steering was off, I completely stripped the box, cleaned it all out, greased it and put it all back together. (With the shaft now being pinned and welded back on.) This was left off until we had finished with the other things on my list. (We always start the day with a list and cross off everything we have finished.
We jacked the complete car up, unbolted the engine and box, slid the engine forward and took out the box. I changed the bell housing (For the one I had bead blasted) and gave the other one to Steve. He had taken off the engine plate, so he stuck this onto the bell housing to see if the starter holes lined up, they were not much out but needed a bit of trimming before the starter would fit.
While Steve was doing this, I fitted the torque converter, took off the back wheels, removed the half shafts and unbolted the diff; Steve gave me a hand to take it out. I fitted the gasket and refitted it. I rebuilt the axle and filled it with oil. The box was next followed by the engine. The engine was already filled with oil so I topped up the box as well. The steering was then refitted.
I/we were not happy with the gear change, the bar was a little small and flexed, so I had bought some stronger tube to fit. We bent it to the same shape and fitted it. It still didn’t want to work properly, with the problem getting back out of reverse.
This is where Steve comes in with some very good ideas; he looks in from the other side and starts drawing on the white board. The shift is a ratchet type and we found that the bar would have to move 1 inch each way off centre, so Steve designed a system which would work with two bars instead of the one. He made a pivot plate to fit on the two bottom axle mounts. The pivot is a upside down L with a two to one ratio. After it was finished and trial fitted, it worked a treat, so was taken back off and painted.
While Steve was making that, I was fitting the throttle and brake pedals. At the moment the engine still has the 600 cfm from the Mini on it, as I know it works, the engine will be started on this and the 750 will be fitted after. I am not happy with the throttle cable at the moment, it’s a custom one with a braided outer casing and it seems to flex a lot when I press the pedal (As it takes a lot of travel before the throttle starts to open). As I have some new black outer cable, I am going to try fitting this and see if it makes a difference.
I have a lot of brake fittings but before I can set them up, I need a few more odds and ends.
With all the extra things we had to do I just did not have time to do any of the wiring (Other than the plug leads) to get the engine running, so that will be put off until early next year when I’m back down the shed.
I will be doing as much as I can this Saturday down the garage and will take some photos of what was done this weekend.
The good news of the weekend was that the car came off and back onto the trailer with no problems at all. It is a little problem strapping down the back, but I think that can be sorted.
More news and photos soon.

Compelling reading Tone! My little truck might not be in the same league, but I share the workshop woes!
It'll be interesting to see this one in action after reading the story behind it.

 ;D ;D ;D

Tell me about cams ! >:( Spent almost 3500 mile strying to sort my A engine with no joy. Swapped out for a low mileage known good lump and trans and still not right. Only thing in common was the cam ?

Got a mate round to check my initial timimg , I've done loads but thought I've got to be making the same mistake repeatedly on thsi one ? I was using valve lift after LTDC and he used full lift after TDC . The two didn't agree?? We reset and retested , still as bad. Looking deeper into it discovered that the actual cam grind was different to how it should have been according to the model stamp. Not misground just mis-stamped :(

New one now in waiting for me to fit everything back on .

I love Christmas pudding  ::)

I know a well known racer who put in a new cam and lost nearly a couple of seconds, found out they had given him the wrong cam grind. With Fords, they have two cam set ups, one swaps the firing order on two cylinders, at least when he found out, all he had to do was change two plug leads. (I'm hoping I've got the right one)

Here are some photos taken today, including the new driver for 2028.
First the engine with all the leads (Waiting for separators) the throttle cable and the Harley oil filled oil pressure gauge.
(The rocker covers have been sand blasted and etched primered)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine6.jpg)
Now some of the new gear linkage.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearlink4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearlink5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearlink6.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/gearlink7.jpg)
The new welded steering link and a view from the cockpit (And yes there will be more bolts before it goes out)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering26.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering27.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/steering28.jpg)
And my new grandson Rory
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rory.jpg)
I am going to spend most of the day down the garage Saturday. I will be doing the wiring, seeing what pipe work I need for the brakes so I can order it and whatever else I can finish.

Awww- GrandDad, the drag racer -what a lovely example you set for younger generations Tony!  ;D
Car's really looking great now. Wish I knew what half that stuff did.

Isssss lovely. How long before you can put Rory to work on it? Start 'em young... :)

Rory the racecar driver -isn't that a kids' TV show?
I really like that lime green etch primer colour!

thats looking good.
the rocker cover on my morris was green etch primer!!!!

thats looking fantastic  and its nice to se gramps with the young one just make shure you train him up well  he is racings future

I am hoping that my granddaughter (10) or grandson (8) will have a go in the junior dragster up the track next year, Rory though has got a few years to go yet. Anyway, what I done today.
I spent 8 hours down the garage today and not got a lot to show for it. The first thing I had to sort out was the back axle, when we pushed to car into the garage last night, we (As in the youngster who works down there) found diff oil on the insides of each tyre. When I took them off this morning I found the problem. Ages ago, I put the callipers from the back to the front to make it look neater, to do this you have to undo 6 bolts each side and swing the plates around and swap the callipers over from one side the other, Looks like I only put a couple of the bolts back in to see if I liked it or not and forgot about it. The oil was coming out of one of the missing bolt holes.
They are right behind and hidden by the disc's so I had to strip the whole lot back off, find and fit all the bolts and stick it back together again.
This done I looked to see if I could do anything with the throttle, it had a very long travel. Part of the linkage was a little chrome bracket, this did not fit my carb, I took it off and put it away. When looking for the axle bolts I found it and thought it might do the job to extend the bottom of the pedal. I took the pedal off and drilled an extra hole and bolted on the bracket, bolted it all back on, changed the angle of the cable and it works great.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/throttle8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/throttle9.jpg)
The main job for the day was the wiring; I had already wired the main switch panel so I fitted it to where it’s going to sit. (I had to swap the ignition and fuel pump switches over as the ign switch looked to easy to knock off, I will be putting labels over the old ones.)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring1.jpg)
When I came home last weekend I thought I had put all of my parts into the van, but I forgot the master switch and solenoid, as I know where they are going to fit, it was not a problem. All the wires are sleeved and heat shrink at each end, I bought a plug kit so everything can be taken out of needed without stripping all the wiring.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring2.jpg)
That is about it for now, we are off to Eastbourne next weekend and with Christmas and the New Year, I won’t be doing much on the car until well into the New Year.

The car is wrapped up for Christmas and I can't see me doing anything before the new year.
So I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Linda and myself.

You've wrapped it up for Christmas? That's a hell of a pressie!
Merry Manky Christmas to you too.  ;)

Yesterday I decided to order the brake fittings, so I phoned Fay at Speedflow. It’s hard sometimes to explain exactly what you need, so I drew a diagram and worked it out. Not only did Fay understand what I needed but they were sitting in the garage this morning.
As I only knew the exact size of the two pipes from the callipers to the axle plate, I knocked these up this morning, I have also put the next set of fittings (From the axle plate to the T connector) at the end of the hose, I will have to wait until I can get the car back into the garage before I know how long these are going to be so I can cut them to size and fit the other ends. It’s quiet down the garage at the moment so it might be next week sometime.
I would like to say a big thankyou to Fay at Speedflow for her prompt service and will be getting all my fuel fittings from her when the tank has been made.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake9.jpg)

have we/you got a link or details for speedflow ??

Here you go
http://www.speedflow.co.uk/
well recomended, Steve (Brock) has been using them for years.

 :)cheers

01/01/2012 How about a stealth car?? After sorting out the brake fitting and getting them to work (A very quick bleed) on Friday after noon I went in yesterday morning for a few hours to sort other parts out.
I needed to weld on a few more Dzus tabs for the tinwork, two to hold the dash under the top panel and two each side for the panel each side of the engine. I measured where they were to go and fitted them.
The bottom tin was quite dirty as it was catching everything falling from above, so I took it off, took it outside and gave it a good scrub and rubdown. I also rubbed down the side panels. Not long ago I bought so black etch primer, so when the panels were dry, I hung them up in the workshop and sprayed them. I quite like the black inside and might keep it that way,  the outsides will be sprayed the metal flake gold as planned.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork25.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork26.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork27.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork28.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork29.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork30.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork31.jpg)
Back to the brakes, I was hoping to use the diff bolts to hold the T piece and P clip but they were too big for the holes, so for now I have drilled into the housing and screwed them into that, as soon as I can get some studs, I will be tapping the holes and fitting them.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake10.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake12.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake13.jpg)
As I said fitting it up was easy and it bled easy, but at the moment the wheels seem quite hard to turn, I will be going in for another couple of hours in the morning to pack everything away and load it back onto the trailer, so I will see what it’s like to push when its back on its own four wheels, the cylinder is new but has been standing for years, I have stripped it down and everything was clean and free, so it could be the callipers. So more news when it happens.

just sat and read this post from the beginning very interesting a great build  and them welds are sex on steel  ;D

Can't fault Steve's welding  ;)

Like the gold pedals against the black interior Tony.

Another day with little to show for it, but I did manage to get quite a bit done. Steve always tells me to write down a list and mark off the items done, I done this but always seem to forget to put a charged battery in my camera, so not many photos.
The other morning I was up early to go down my mate Anthony’s welding shop; the problem was with the trailer. With such long ends at the back and then the ramps, they move around a bit and have managed to brake off a couple of the long rubber marker lights. I measured the distance between the ramps and bent up a flat bar to be bolted between them. Before I bent them I punched a hole on each end. I marked the edges of the ramps and drilled a hole in each and bolted it in place.
I thought that the ramps might be harder to drop and lift, but it’s quite easy and it has stopped the excess movement at the ends, I have also ordered some shorter lights to replace the other ones.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer22.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer23.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer24.jpg)
Glen a friend of mine is a welder in a factory and was around the other week for a MOT test, we were talking about the car and the need of a prop shaft shield, and he measured it up and has mocked it up and will be coming to the garage one weekend to fit the brackets. He said that when it’s finished he would blast and paint it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/propshield1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/propshield2.jpg)
I asked if they done heat resistant paint and he said they only did silver. I know I had already sprayed them black, I have used the paint for years and with the Mini I have been able to start the car up and it seems to bake it on, but even though I used the hot air gun when I did these, they had started to show rust right in the joins and where it was hard to get any paint into. Anyway, I took them off and got them over to him. They have been fully sand blasted and coated with him dropping them back off yesterday afternoon so I fitted them on to see what they looked like. I am not too sure with the colour at the moment but will leave them like this until I have at least started the engine. I don’t know if you can see, but the other night I knocked up a couple of covers for the ends, I have also got a couple of balls in the ends as I need to stop the water getting down the pipes.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers42.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/headers43.jpg)
I was not happy with the throttle cable which was braided; it had a lot of flex in it after the throttle was wide open. I striped it down and with a length of black outer cable, made up a new one, I drilled a hole on the motor plate and after fitting a grommet re fitted it all to the carb. The travel of the pedal is a lot better now (Sorry no photos)
Other than checking, cleaning and painting a few things that was it for the day.

Those pipes are gorgeous Tony, whatever colour they are.
So what does the prop shield attach to?

Still not convinced about the colour  :-\
I will be using two of the lower bolts on the front of the diff and the gearbox mount bolts at the front. Both will be attaced to the bottom part so I can unbolt and take off the top to check things if needed.

I prefer the silver to the black.....sorry Tone.

Still out with that one Tim :-\
Bit of a off day, started good but did not end that way. Started off going down Anthony's to knock up some stuff for the trailer and car, got down there just after nine.
First, I was toying about buying some of them legs you get for trailers to stop them tipping up, it would be better than the axle stands that I have been using. But I dug about in the scrap bins and found some box which would fit in another box. I cut all the parts I needed (Including the brackets for the prop shield) fired up the welder and knocked a pair up. I have made some bars to hold them up and down and will be drilling them for some R clips.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer25.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer26.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer27.jpg)
Before we went home Friday, the car and trailer had been pushed into the MOT bar ready, so when I got to the garage this morning, the first thing to do was weld them them on. I pushed the trailer outside so I could try and unload it on my own. It was the first time I was alone down there as Delbert (Kyle) is normally working on his car and he has bought a scooter and was out on that. When I went to push the car off the trailer it was stuck fast on the brakes, I tried everything to try and move it but all I managed was about a foot, in the end I just gave up.
I looks like it the calipers, so next weekend I will have to take them back off and free them up.
Luckily it was not raining so I did what I could outside, I fitted the rear prop shield brackets to the axle but as I could not get the car or trailer back into the garage they will have to wait again to next week.
I went to Cardiff the other day to get a switch and plug for the rear light (You have to have one for the MSA)
I cant fit the lights until the roll cage is repainted,but everything is ready for them to be plugged in (No photos until they are fitted)
And that was it for the day, it was just wrapping it all back up and sticking it back in the corner of the yard. (Down hill so its easy for me to do it on my own.)

No photos this week but a word of warning. Been using grinders for years and until now never switched them off when changing a disc, yesterday I was cutting and bending the fixings for the propshaft guard and was changing the cutting disc to the flap disc. I was holding the lock with one hand and and using the spanner with the other, it was tight and I still cant work out how, but it just started up and jumped out of my hand, the cut off blade just nipping two of my fingers, luckily no real damage. Lesson learned, from now on the plug will be pulled each time, I have held on to my fingers for 50 + years and I want to keep them.
Anyway, I made the fixings and took the finished shield back to Glens for him to have blasted and painted.
The main aim of the day was to sort out the brakes, I took the master cylinder off and completely stripped it down, I could not find anything wrong with it so gave it a good clean and put it back on. I had already took the back wheels off so I tried to take out the brake pads, the inner ones on both side were very hard to get out.
The cylinders don't look that old and are very clean, so once I had taken the pads out, I barred back all the piston, finding the inner ones were harder than the outer ones. I refitted the master cylinder and bled the system, I put both pads in one side and only the outer on the other, while I used a bar, I got Kyle (Delbert) to pump the brake pedal we worked the piston in and out until it felt free, I put the pad in that side we did the same to the other.
I fitted all the panels back on, put the wheels on and dropped the car back off the jack. It was a little stiff but at least I could push the car back out of the garage and on my own put it back onto the trailer with no problem.
Next weekend I am having my first trip to Steve & Lesley's for 2012, so before I went home I had to do a couple of jobs on the trailer. If you noticed, in one the photos of the trailer from last week, one of the rear lights was broken off, the one on top of the mud guard the other side went missing on the way to Steve's at the end of last year. I have ordered new shorter lights to fit on but they seemed to be lost in the post. To make it good for next weekend, I took the other light from the guard and after swapping the lens around fitted that back at the back. (There are already 3 markers lights down each side and if the new lights arrive, it will be easy to fit them to the guards.)
Glen said I would have the finished guard back for the weekend, but unless the weather gets any better will have to wait until I get to Steve's.
We have the Wild Bunch AGM also next Sunday, so as its only just down the road in Swindon, we will be doing a bit first thing and if we have time doing more after, so more news after the weekend.

like you said cunningplan. you can not be to careful when it comes to power tools. or any tool infact
years ago i work i a joinery shop. and an old boy. said to me.you can always tell a good machinist buy how many fingers hes got, i never forgot that. take care

Loony takes the guards off his grinders to be able to get into tight nooks & crannies on vehicles. I've had several close shaves -literally- with them in the last couple of years. Most scary though was with my own grinder at home. The fuse blew, stopping the disc. I put it on the bench, changed the fuse & plugged it back in, forgetting it was still switched on. It leapt off the bench & down the side of my leg, taking the surface off my leather boot. I was very lucky.
As we always say, please be careful out there guys.

After two weekends that I was unable to go to Steve & Lesley's, the first was I was snowed in. (Well I did set off just before 7am and only got around the corner when it started to snow, within half a mile the roads were white) so I just turned around and went home.
Then last weekend I had some bug which everyone else seemed to have at the same time, just went home after work Friday and went to bed.
Anyway, back to the car and trailer, one of the last times I went to Steve's, the car got covered in mud from the roads running up to the shed. So I decided to make a cover to fit the top of the trailer to keep most of the dirt off when its being towed, I wanted it as light as I could and was thinking of some sort of vinyl, but searching found that it would cost more than I wanted to pay. A few years ago I bought a awning for the van and to stop the wind and rain blowing from under the van I made a blocker using pond liner from a local garden centre, it was cheap and done the job. Last Saturday I went down the same place but found they had run out and was not expecting it in for a few weeks or so. We called in a couple of other centres and found one that wanted 90 odd quid for a 6 x 2 metre piece, way too much, then I remembered they sold it in The Range in Cardiff, we went there and found it would only cost £40 so I bought some. I ordered up some more screw in poppers for fleebay.
The other day Glen dropped in the finished prop shaft shield and was fitting it in yesterday afternoon when he came in for a test. He asked me what colour I wanted and he suggested red, I didn’t think it would look right at first but said yes, I’m glad I did as it looks good next to the Trans blanket.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/propshield3.jpg)
After work we tried to get the car off the trailer, I thought I had solved the problem with brakes; it took 3 of us ½ hour to get the car onto the ramp ready for the morning.
First thing this morning was to try and sort out the brakes again, I jacked the car up on the ramp and took off the wheels and freed off the pads and took them out, I have put new pads in, so got out the old ones and put them back in, at the moment it seems to have solved the problem but I won’t know until I unload the car again. The old pads were hardly worn but did not cover all the disc, they are spitfire callipers and pads and I found Acclaim pads had a extra ¼ inch on the bottom. Don’t know if this was the problem but I will get a few runs in the car and try them again.
With that sorted, we pushed the car outside and put the trailer on the ramp. I measured and drilled where I wanted the studs and screwed them in, I put the liner on the top and fitted the popper parts to it. As I was on my own, (Del was working in the workshop) I could not get it as tight as I would have liked but it looks like it’s going to do its job.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer28.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/trailer29.jpg)
When I posted the photos of the brake system the other week, Sam Freeman suggested I put some rubber covers on the threads of the axle bolts; he even got some for me and sent them down (Thanks Sam) I warmed these up and tapped them on, it would be better for my legs to hit these than the studs.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearaxle15.jpg)
We had to swap the two around again so we could put the car back on the trailer, then it was home until next weekend.

I'd hoped to see you & the car at Steves workshop last week Tony. Hope you're feeling better. 

First and second start ups (Sorry about the sound)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ17z9xba-8&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ZpcmHeqrA

update on the other bits we did over the weekend tomorrow

That's a bit of a beast isn't it Tony! Can't wait to see it on the track.
For a first fire up of a new motor, my brother looks incredibly nonchalent about the whole thing.  :)

Even my daughter said that about Steve (brock) he must have confidence in me and thought it would start the first time, I thought it was going to be harder than it was, but then again its only a boat anchor

As you can see the engine is up and running and the gearbox/back axle are working like they should. So far the engine is running on the 600 vac sec Holley from the Cunning Plan, as it runs so good at the moment I will be leaving this on until the whole car is up and running. The timing has not been set up yet, but more on that later.
I had a wet trip up first thing Sat morning but the sun came out and it turned into a nice day.
The plan for the weekend was to finish the wiring and get it up and running. I measured up for the brackets for the Master switch/solenoid/fuel pump/Anderson plug and cut them out. I was then down to Steve to weld them in place. Then I wired them up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring5.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wiring6.jpg)
While I was doing this, Steve was knocking up a new brake pushrod, while the old one worked, people were concerned that it might bend, so after a good look, he came up with this.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake16.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake17.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/brake18.jpg)
Its now got a nice straight push and worked a treat when I had the car running.
It was then that I fitted the battery and after turning the engine over to get pressure (50psi) Steve switched on the ignition and hit the starter, it fired and cut out, I turned the dizzy a bit and when he hit it again it fired into life. Quite quickly the paint on the headers just blistered and burnt off (So it will be back to BBQ black) After we knew it worked, I put on the wheels and got ready to bleed (You have to go up and down the gearbox a couple of times holding it each gear for a few secs) and see if the gears worked or not, Steve checked the level and it was by luck on the mark (Good guess) once the fluid had got around the box it worked as it always did.
We normally work until about 9, but as the engine was hot we called it a day early.
The plan for the morning was to get it outside and see if it moved and stopped as it should, but as we was getting to the shed in the morning it started to snow and in a very short time there was about a inch on the grass.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/snow.jpg)
So we lock ourselves in and lit the fire.
It was also planned to start making the fuel tank, so I got out the mock up and laid it on some card Steve had, we folded it around it and cut it to size for a template, we found some alloy to suit, marked and cut it out then bent that around the buck. We had added a extra strip on one edge and I juggled it so Steve could have a overlap joint and not a butt.
I measured for the front end and Steve made a former to put into the press. While Steve was welding up the bottom seam, I pressed the end cap, this did not full work as it should, so I dressed it up on a bit of pipe help in the vice. This was pressed in from the inside and when fitting as it should welded in.
The back of the tank is a funny shape (Like the original car had) and I have made a template but we ran out of time before we could make it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank9.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank10.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank12.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank13.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank15.jpg)
The only other thing to do before I went home was to make a slot for the steering shaft to come through on the top panel, this was done, but we still have to cut a couple of holes each side for where the body mounts are welded to the chassis.
I hope to go up again in a few weeks time. To do is to finish the tank, top panel (Including the screen) and making a panel for each side of the engine to hide the electrics.
I will have to order up a few things from Speed Flow before then so the fitting can be welded to the tank (Outlet and breather)
More news as it happens

I thought all that smoke was coming from Brock  ;D
You can see the change in those headers actually happen, lovely.

Well done Tony, you must be a happy man....although you are a tease! You show us the engine firing up, the gears all perfoming as they should and then you tell us it`s still not finished  ;D ;D

At just after 5 this afternoon I took my first ride in the car.
We set the timing at 34' for now and ran it through the gears, took it off the stand and "It lives"  :D  (And stops)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kl3QeZwBVk&feature=g-upl&context=G20bef81AUAAAAAAAAAA
another video and photos in a couple of days

real nice .......

Wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFkHLqPWrI8&feature=share
Sorry about the sound    :'(

Sounds real nice that Tony,Looks good to.

When finished yesterday, I just stuck it back on the trailer uncovered and thats how it still is until after work today. So if you want to pop down somtime today, your welcome  ;)

Well done on a great build,
what kind of time's are you hopping to achieve

Sorry Tony,Just read this.

To late, it all covered up now  ::)

As you can see by my other posting, its all coming together and even managed to drive it for a few yards back and for.
It was the normal  early start Sat morning getting to Steve's around 9, the first thing was to write on the white board what was to do on the weekend.
The first job was to finish the fuel tank and plumb it in. The second part was taken care again by Fay at Speedflow. I liked the look or the rubber type fuel pipe and had this and the fittings to suit. The weld in tank fitting are a larger size that I need, but with the extra fitting at the back are there so fuel injection can be fitted in the future.
I made the rear of the tank (Which Steve calls a Womble face) I had made a template the last time I was down, it took some time but I managed to get it to fit. This was fitted until I fitted the breather and filler cap (Which is turned this was to mimic the one on Chicken Coupe)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank17.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank19.jpg)
The back was not welded on until some baffles were fitted
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank21.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank22.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank24.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank25.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank28.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank29.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/fueltank31.jpg)
While Steve was welding this up, I started on the top cover, I had to drill out the holes for the body mounts, (These will be slotted so I wont have to take the mounts off to remove it.) and make the windscreen.
I started by cutting it oversize then folding it to shape. Once I was happy, I cut it to shape and riveted on.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/screen1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/screen3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/screen5.jpg)
You would not believe how long just these two items took, so after checking the tank for leaks and making the straps, it was time to put some fuel in and adjust the timing, at the moment its set at 34 (My Chrysler was set at 38)
Then it was time to take a drive, all I can say is " it went and it stopped"
Its going to be after Easter before my next trip, theres not much to do but make a coupe of side panels, a dash to fit the idiot lights and finding where to put the chute pull and cable.

A beautiful, professional job Tony.

Does what it's sposed to do then - good stuff!

While at my last trip to the shed, I have been looking at the car and mainly the front end and the ground clearance.
It was hard to see, but both the top and bottom rails ran up to the front axle and made the car so it looked like it was sagging in the middle from the side. The car had 2 1/2 in clearance but this was a pain more so at my garage as we had to lift the front end to get the car into and out of the MOT bay which has a very small ramp.
So I asked Steve to order up some more CDS for this weekend and make up a set of new top rails.
We put the car into the shed and about 1/2 hour later the engine and box were out and all the side and top panels removed. We set out the chassis on the floor with a new ride height of 3" and with the front wheels sitting on the floor (They were off a inch before I cut the tube) and cut out the old top rail. I did this by cutting each side of all the uprights, down the sloping join at the rear (Drilling out the rosette welds) and cutting halfway alongside where the tank sits.
While I trimmed off all the uprights Steve machined 6" connectors for the front. We bent up the new tubes and fitted them into the rear tubes. We marked them at the front and cut them to size. The hardest thing was to get the inner tube in the right place, I did this by marking the centre and then drilled little dimples along one side, I pushed the tubes into the front part then using a screwdriver slid them into place through the rosette holes.
When we were happy with the fit and looks (It is now dead straight from the front bend to the front axle.) Steve tacked it all up, we took the front axle off and turning it on each side Steve then fully welded it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis93.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis94.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis95.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis96.jpg)
Steve suggested I made a couple of plates to go each side of the fuel tank, so I found some plate and knocked these up
(http://www.cunningplan.net/chassis97.jpg)
I then measured up and cut out the engine side alloy plates and dressed one over the chassis (I have made both, but ran out of time to finish the other one) I have to fit another dzus fixing each side of the chassis and they can be drilled and fitted.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork32.jpg)
Also while this was going on, I slotted the holes in the top tin for the front body mounts so I don't have to take these off every time I need to work inside the cockpit. (Still trying to find a way to undo the back dzus fasteners without taking the wheels off, I have got a idea, but will have to see if it works first.)
Anyway, after it was all welded, I cleaned off all the new chassis and around the other parts and sprayed it with black etch primer ready for the (Wet) trip home. When dry, we refitted the engine/box and bolted it all back up (Except the prop) and it was ready to be loaded back onto the trailer.
There is very little to do on the car, I recon only one more trip to Steve & Lesley's will do it, the most important is the put back in the top four link rear fixings, the dash panel and the chute pull, then it will be taken apart at my garage and painted (Less body) ready hopefully for the Nos Nats.
I have a big event and a holiday coming up so its going to be a few weeks before any more updates.

Looks great Tony. I would say that's an awful lot of work for a small change, but having rebuilt parts of my truck 2 or 3 times because I wasn't happy with them, I understand why you did it.
You don't want to go on holiday -you want to bring it along to our pitch at the Basingstoke show!

Steve cut off the front end of his twice before he was happy, and that is to blame for me not building a new chassis to go under the Mini body and ending up with what I have now. (I was going to use one of his cut off front ends to attach to the altered chassis, but it was not long enough, (Steves is only 140 inch wheelbase to my 162.))
Was toying with the idea of coming to your show, but have a long drive on Monday and will also need a few quid to spend while away.

I've watched the video of the first drive at least a dozen times now. And giggled like a loon everytime.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

hi,ya,, wizzy,, :)

Hey you ... every now and then I turn up out of the blue! ;)

Well with about 4 weeks to go before the Nostalgia Nats, I still have a bit of work to do and with only one free weekend I can get to Steve & Lesley's (The weekend before the event) its going to be tight.
With the good weather we have been having, I have managed to get a couple of jobs done. Steve noticed a oil leak from the pressure switch fitting and I found I had bought the wrong one (Not a NPT one), so it was a quick look on fleebay and the right one ordered and now fitted.
I (With the help of Del) took the back wheels off, we rubbed them down and I gave them a coat of etch primer.
Then it was a coat of base silver followed by some silver flake, the outside were masked off and the centers were given a gold base followed by gold flake. I have run out of lacquer at the moment and will finish them when the side panels are done in the next week or so.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearwheel1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/rearwheel2.jpg)
I am away up the track this weekend but the plan for next week is to take all the panels off, rub down all the roll cage area and around the engine, then these will be finished painted (Cant finish the front of the chassis until the top 4 bar fixing are welded back in)
More news and photos as it happens
And to wizz  ;)

Back at ya.

You're going to start me giggling again...  ;D ;D

Its less than 2 weeks now with not really a lot to do, even managed to get myself a new sponsor, Perfect Polishing from nr Tewkesbury. He had put up a thread on rods-n-sods, so I contacted him to find it was a friend called Joshi who used to work up the track on the fire crew. I arranged to drop off the front wing on Friday going up the track (It's just off junction 9, M5) and I picked it up on the way home. Considering that I had started to flat it back ready to paint it, he done a brilliant job of it.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing19.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/wing20.jpg)
(it came flat packed)
Last Thursday, Jon and myself got the chassis panels ready for paint and when finish, Jon gave them a few coats. He is coming back Tuesday to give them a quick flat back and buff up.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork34.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork35.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/tinwork36.jpg)
I have got all the 4 bars, the drag links, wheelie bar and rear body mount off ready to respray this week, then it the last trip to Steve & Lesley's on the weekend and hopefully (If I can get a wheel bolt) a trip to the Nostalgia Nats at Shakey the weekend after.
I will say this, most of the paintwork on the chassis is a little under par for me at the moment, but it getting to near for me to worry about it. I have already spoken to Jon and have arranged to have to whole lot redone over the winter in a proper spray booth, as doing it down my garage in the MOT bay is not the ideal place and the weather has not been to good to us.

Still looks fantastic Tony. See you at Shakey then! (that's Shakespeare County Raceway in Stratford on Avon by the way).

You game for some crewing duties Andy ;)

Looks like a crew on one at the moment "ME"  ??? even Mrs Plan's not going up  :'(

I've got to work on Saturday, but will be up for the day on Sunday. Happy to help where I can.

Got back from the last trip to the shed with the car last night, I have taken a couple of photos and will post them again, but its more or less ready for next weekend.
All the welding is finished, all the panels are made and it only going down in the week to get the body re-fitted.
I will say, the car is no way finished but I realy want it to be out for the weekend, so the final paint will have to wait. The top panels are finished with all the axle bars, rear body mount and wheelie bar, but as I said the body wont be, also I have not been able to drop the belly pan, I have had to paint the front axle black and theres chips taken out of things like the front body mount. Its not going to be a show car (And according to some, not very fast with the boat anchor fitted ) and all will be sorted after I have shaken it down and make sure it all works.
Over the weekend, Steve welded the new 4 bar top mounts on, the last two dzus brackets and the chute pull is fitted.
While he was doing this, I put back all the wiring, changed every single bolt which needed to be changed and then ether nylocs fitted or loctighted.
I have taken the exhausts back off to repaint black this week.
When the engine was built, the inner valve springs were left out, so as I have fitted new rocker posts with roller rockers we were able to fit them without taking the heads off. Steve took out all the rockers, pushrods and lash caps off one side, then between us put the new (Smaller) stem seals and middle springs in, when finished, he went over the other side while I adjusted the lash. Then we done the same to the other side.
I fitted the fuel tank and when every thing was again checked over tried to start the engine, whould not turn over on the button. Steve said one of the plugs under the starter motor did not look right, went under and it had not clicked fully in. Added more fuel, could of pumps on the throttle and fired up straight away, let it run for quite a while to try and burn off the water still in the block, as it didn't have any exhausts, the flames looked good
It was time to clear up and when I had the trailer ready, I drove it out of the shed and put the front wheels on the trailer ready.
Things to do before or next weekend. Fit the rev limiter and shift light, paint the exhausts and fit the body, for the weekend, I have already drilled a couple of holes in the back of the body for the chute pack, but there will be a mount made to make it look better soon. (There is also a mount on the back of the cage for when I run without the body.)
Anyway, thanks to Herb (Who has made a wheel nut) Norm (Who has found a 11/16 nut) and the set due over from the States, I will have 10 nuts fitted for the weekend.
Don't forget, you will find a few faults in the car, but all will be addressed as soon as pos, I just want to get back on the track.

Again no photos, but been down the garage since 7.30 this morning, first to sort out the van, I lost the indecators and hazards less than a mile from the house, looked at a couple of forums for suggestions and its now fixed.
It was a nice day, so I took the top cover off and wired up the shift light/limiter and the oil light on the new dash I made yesterday.
I took the headers off yesterday to make it easier to change the springs, so after work I cleaned all the silver paint that I could get off and spray them back BBQ black, I have given them a good few coats, but I am hoping that they are going to come out OK. At the moment they dont look too good, I havent a clue what they painted them with, but I think it was two types of paint, the first has stuck to the metal and has stopped it rusting, the second just burnt off as soon as it got hot, it looks like the BBQ paint is sinking into the base coat making it look uneven. Could get down there in the morning and they look great, but could also get down there and they look c**p. problem is I just dont have time to do anything about them
Its been arranged for me to pick up the body tomorrow after work, as well as Jon, my brother and nephew are going down to help put it on without taking the car off the trailer. (I have plenty of old curtains in the van ready)The winch is playing up and I have ordered a new one, this time a heavy duty one.
Jon and myself will sort out the firewall on the body Wed or Thursday and then the track on Friday

Can't wait to see it run on Sunday Tony -try not to break it on Saturday please!
As Taz has posted on FaceBook, she, Loony & I should be there first thing Sunday morning, (we all have to work on Saturday).
With big brother Brock & lovely Lesley bringing the Black Pig Too, plus Scottie the Hotrod Haulier & the equally lovely Gina with Tiki Munki, it should be a veritable MonkeyFest.  ;D

cheers Andy, looking forward to it, got to work first before I can play.
a few photos of it loaded for the return trip home.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/nearlyfinished1.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/nearlyfinished2.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/nearlyfinished3.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/nearlyfinished4.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/nearlyfinished5.jpg)

Lovely, professional job. Well done all concerned.

After work today, I took the car down to where the body has been stored and with the help of my brother Alan, two of his boys Craig & Matt and Jon the painter, its now back on the chassis, but this was not without a small problem, when we were getting ready to put the body on, I had forgotten that I have fitted the brake lines since it was last fitted, I had to measure up and cut some more out of the insides of the tubs.
After taking it back down the garage I fitted the exhausts, I was not sure what they would look like when I got in this morning and to be honest, they dont look too good, the paint seams to have reacted with the other and its blotchy. I am going to wait until I have started the car to see what they look like after. I might have to just rub them down again and give them another coat or two.
I gave the car a quick clean and other than a couple of small jobs that will have to be done at the track, so until I get there on Friday I am going to have a couple of relaxed days for a change.

You deserve a few days off! Fingers crossed for you for the weekend mate.

Good luck for the weekend Tony. I won't be able to make it, annoyingly. I have been watching this thread from the start. Brilliant job.

Good Luck Tony, hope to see you and the coupe soon.

That's a shame, I'm looking forward to the weekend, not only to try the car out but meet one of my hero's John Hobbs, used to watch him race in the 70s and was always impressed with his riding.
Will you be there for the HRDs this year?

Not coming up Doc for the maiden voyage?? shame on you  ::) see you soon.

Hope to be at the HRD's I'll crew for you if you need it.

Cheers Doc, got a special driver lined up  ;)

She`s looking nice Tony, almost a shame to cover her up with the body  ::)

Thanks Tim, in a way yes, but at least I can run with or without the body  ;)

Hope to be there. Things a bit up in the air at the moment. Met John a few times in recent years. He is a really nice, unnasuming bloke and happy to yak.

Not long to go, Its sitting on the trailer at the moment in the MOT bay, last night gave it a good check over and made sure it ran, started first time and sounded good. (Have the silencers fitted so not to annoy the locals)
I know whith the weather it going to get a little dirty on the way up, but I have given it as good clean and made sure all the nuts and bolts are tight and the king pins are well greased. As I said, its not fully finished with the body just mocked up to see if there is any problems with it before final paint and the front axle to re paint.
For those that are going, see you at the track on the weekend

Fingers crossed for a great weekend's racing Tony.
Barring last minute emergencies, Taz will be driving us up in her company Jeep Cherokee. She's very keen to help out with crewing duties.
Good luck Tony -See you on Sunday.

Many thanks to Taz on the weekend, for the first time she was really great and it was like a duck to water, Mankey on the other hand, done what he does best, took loads of photos  ;D
Great weekend even tough we had to wait most of Sunday to get a run it.
Below is part one of a weekend report.

Looks like my car was well received and I would like to thank all that came up and said they liked it, most of all “So do I” Taking it off the trailer and seeing it alone with a big space around it, it looked so small and low.
Starting with Thursday, in the morning painter Jon brought in a car for a test, he said he thought the car would look better with red fogging rather than the black. He was meant to be spraying a truck that evening. He phoned me up later and said that as it was raining he had put that off and would be up my garage at 5. We got the car complete with trailer was put into the MOT bay and just used the plastic sheeting to mask the body up. We dried it all off (No rubbing down at all) and Jon stuck on a coat of primer, he had already mixed up the red and gave it a dust coat while the primer was still wet. He asked if it was enough and looking at it I said “No” so it was another dust coat, then another until I said to him “Just paint it” So two coats later it was RED.
I had to get in early Friday to get the car back out of the bay and back down where it lives in the yard. After work it was parked just in front of the bay doors so after I had my dinner and shower, I could just come down the hill, hook it on the van and drive it up the track.
I got up the track to find that Dave & Linda had managed to keep me a space next to them, I took the trailer off, parked the van up and after taking the car off and parking it pushed the trailer onto the grass behind out of the way.
Paul was on his rounds so I asked him if he could give it a once over, I told him there was a wheel nut missing but then Norm and Herb arrived on the scene. Paul notice I had put a normal washer on one of the steering joints and it was binding, I had forgotten to refit one of the misalignment washers, so I went and got one from the back of the van and changed it, also the special nut was fitted and Paul gave me a ticket.
There was still a couple of things needed to be done before I could put it down the track, first was that the tyres rubbed on the inner arch’s and I had bought some fasteners to hold them the side panels, I had also left the breather bottles up Steve & Lesley’s the weekend before and they needed fitting.
Saturday morning I was up at 6.30 and by the time I had signed on at 7.20 I had had my breakfast, had both the back wheels off and the panels marked ready for drilling.
After Paul and myself had scrutineered most of the cars and I had a few minutes, I went and drilled the holes, had help getting the body off, marked, drilled and fitted the inner fixings. (The fittings are the Dzus ring type.) The body was refitted and the fasteners were fitted, with the wheels back on, I can now just reach under the arch’s to fit and take them off.
In another break, I drill a hole each side of the front motor plate and fitted the catch cans behind. I also set the rear tyres at 12.5 lb.
At about 2.30 I asked if I could play and told the start crew what I intended to do, this was put the car in 3rd  drive around the water,  stage and on the green drive it down the track to see how it handled.
Before I went down to the track, I had Tom Hawkins (Bob’s son) to tow me around the pits to see if the steering was straight, it was just to one side, so getting back to my pit I adjusted it.
I got suited up and Tom took me down the pairing lanes, unlike my Mini there is no way anyone can help me do up the harness, it is a bit hard to do, but I can get it really tight. When I was at the front of the queue and my turn, I started it up and drove it to the line and staged, after a reaction time of 1.49 sec’s I drove down the strip. It was quite flat leaving the line and all of the sudden kicked in and making the car bounce a couple of times, It when straight as a die and I just kept my foot on the throttle getting a 13.08 @ 110.92 timing slip.
I have to say, for those who were down the bottom end the first time and the first  turn off the second, I suffer badly with cramp in my legs and was not just doing funny walks. The first time I could not get out of the car at first and the second I ended up laying in the grass in agony, so thanks to Wendy from the medical team for sorting it out. (When I got back to my van I took a couple of my cramp tablets and that was that sorted, I wish I had taken them before)
After the first run, it was straight around and try again, this time it was for a full pass. I did a second gear burnout, but every time I put the car in reverse the engine cut out, after the second time I found I was knocking the ignition switch off with my arm so the next time I made sure I was not near it and got back behind the line, Dave took out the dragon from the chute and I staged in first this time. It spun a bit off the line and even when changing gear stayed straight (Unlike the mini) I pulled the chute and felt the pull, I then knew I was not going to be able to get right down the bottom, so I braked hard and pulled in the first turnoff. I could smell the brakes but did not think anything of it, but it was not until the crew came down, they found they could not push the car and the brakes had stuck on. I was called to the tower and had a lift while they sorted out the problem. This run was a good 11.45 @ 114 mph.
I had been asked to be part of the flag starts, but when I got back to the pits, Dave was on a run and I had to wait until they got back, by this time, I could push the car so I thought they had solved the problem. We got down in time and I got ready for the run and waited until it was my turn. They had taken the tree out of the way and there was a young lady with a couple of flags, the only way anyone could stage was that the two on the startling foot staged the cars & bikes, they just lifted off their foot when the flags went up, so I don’t count the time for this run.
Anyway, I drove through the water and gave it a quick spin to get them wet, then I went to the line in second and when she lifted the flag just floored it, I felt the tyres spin and off it went, stuck it in third and crossed the line @ 117.67mph (My best so far) Dave sat in the car on the way back and I could hear the brakes were playing up again.
After I had finished on track for the day, it was back to my pit, get the body off and see what was wrong with the brakes, I thought it was the master cylinder so this was checked out first. After a while I still could not turn the wheels, so I pumped up the brake and thinking that if it was the cylinder, when I open a bleed nipple it would give a quick spurt of fluid and the brake would be free, nothing came out and I still could not turn it. I remover the R clips from the brake pins and pulled them out, I just could not get the pads out, I had to use a pry bar to at first get the inner one out but it was harder to get the outer one out. After replacing the inner pad, I pumped the outer piston out as far as I dared, pulled back the rubber and found quite a bit of rust. I cleaned it up and sprayed it was WD40 and worked it in and out until it went back in all the way with no problems. I did the same with the inner one and after fitting the pads I could pump the brake as hard as I could and it would release as soon as I let it go. (I repeated it on the other side but found they were not so bad)
With all that sorted, the car was put back together ready for the morning and that will be in the next episode. (As it’s taken me over a hour just to do this)

 ;D  Photografficking's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it!
You guys seemed to have everything under control without any help from me.  :)
The car looked great Tony. Very slick.

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Taz, Lesley & Chris pushing. Tony in the car.

Taz towing Tony.

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.

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can,t see a MMM sticker anywhere on it  :o

Opps I forgot to ask  :-\

(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/168511_10150958792269830_1493871448_n.jpg)

well what can i say ,,tony,, it looks GGGGRRRRRRRREATT,,

I'll bring a couple of stickers along when you re-bush my axle for me Tony.  ;)

Well done Tony,Sounds like you had fun.

Nice pics Mr M,Car looks Great tony.
 8)

Congratulations Tony, sounds like a successful first outing and a good weekend, your times wern`t too bad either  ;D

Looking very "Stateside" Tony, excellent,I have followed the build with interest! Morrag

looks mad as a hatter, love it!!!

Part 2. I was up at my normal 7 to find it was dry and the wind had dropped a little, after signing on and sorting out a few things it was near time for the track to open, then the heavens opened up and the track was flooded. As soon as it stopped, work started to get the track dry again only to have another heavy downpour just as it was nearly dried. Just as quick as it went in, in the morning and work started again, this time the rain stayed away and the track opened just before 3 pm.
Claire had came around to see what I wanted to dial in for the day, I didn’t really know, so I thought that as the brakes were not binding I gave her a time of 11.20.
It was time for the first of what would be two runs for the day. The first I was against Keith Crampton in Soul Town Shaker and in the right hand lane for the first time, the Mini used to bounce of the little ridge just after the start line, but I did not even notice anything, (Not even doing my first wheelie) and it just went straight. Keith just beat me, but I had ran a 11.35 @ 116mph so I was more than happy, also the brakes were behaving themselves, It was back to the pits, while there I set the advance to 39 deg like I used to run on the Chrysler, then it was a short wait until the last run of the day.
I was again next to Keith but this time I had the left lane. On the green I was off and I knew I was ahead of Keith and was until I could see him not long before the finish line. We both did not know who had won and I had run a 11.38 @ 116 mph to Keith’s 11.25 @ 117 mph and he had beaten me by 0.056 sec. Like the other runs, the car seems to be running out of steam just after half track, I put this down to the carb being too small for the engine (It was the same with the old car)
 I didn’t get a place in the meeting, but I am very happy with the way the car looks, drives and goes, I am looking forward to my next outing.
After I had loaded it up, the fella whose truck I was next to asked what size engine it was? I told him, and then he asked what carb I was using? I told him, he then asked if I wanted to buy a 850 Barry Grant DD, we went to the truck and he opened the box and there was a nearly new carb sitting there for a very good price. I went over to grab some money and collected Steve on the way back to see what he thought; he said it was a very good deal, so I am a owner of a new (ish) carb.
Since I have started the engine, I have had problems with the 600 with the engine not wanting to idle under about 2000 rpm, I did not really want to change the jets but have tried altering the idle screws, but this has not helped. Anyway, I phoned Fay @ Speedflow and ordered the kit for the carb, Last night I fitted the new carb on the engine and after getting the parts first thing this morning, they were fitted after work today and the engine fired up. It started second time and after warming up for a little while, it settled down to a nice even tick over, it even goes into gear without a problem, I won’t be able tell what it going to be like when being revved until I can get it into the garage tomorrow (As I don’t want to disturb the neighbours to much)
The only other problems I had over the weekend was the tyres rub on the insides of the tubs, so I have but fasteners front and back to sort that, I also had some vibration, not so much when going down the track, but getting towed back to the pits. I thought it was the prop joint, so the other night I took the shield off to find that one of the bearing cups was not fitted properly, I took it apart and checked it for damage, there was not any sign so I put some more grease in and made sure it was fitted as it should. When checking out the engine tonight and trying the gears, it looks like it was the problem and its now gone.
If all goes well I will be at what was the Mini Showdown.
Whos coming up to crew that weekend then  ???  ::)

Great to see the coupe out on the track at last Tony -it certainly caused a stir. A lovely looking machine & a credit to all involved.
So can you explain the bracketing system? I've never understood this dialing in times thing -you have to predict what time you're going to run & stay within sight of that? Surely racing should be just about whoever's got the fastest machine shouldn't it?

Wish I'd been there!  Car looks fantastic and the photographer's no slouch either!

What where and when is the Mini Showdown?

Or whoever can drive their machine the fastest  ;)

I hate index racing (an oxymoron in itself), 'cos it ain't racing. It's all about consistency, if you can get a car to run all day long as close to it's index (dial in) as it can ,you're more likely to end up winning. The only factor to put into your run is the reaction time.
If you were to look at a single index class (super gas), when I first saw these cars in the states way back, there were no driver aids. The indextime for that class was 9.90 seconds and it was the driver that had to make the judgement as when to "sandbag" (feet on the brake and accelerator at the same time) at the top end or not as the case may be. But to me it was still racing. Move further on in time and with the addition of "delay boxes", a lot of the "judgement" is taken out of the drivers hands.
Check this footage out from English town this year and you'll se that at the sixty foot point (about level with the tree) the cars slow (or don't accelerate) for a certain amount of time (lighter cars more, heavier cars less) then carry on down the track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5gkwktXmCc

Love it or hate it, it makes for a more even field. With the Wild Bunch, you have 4, 6 and 8 pots some got lots of money thrown at them and some on a shoe string, so it makes sense to make it fair for everyone. My old car could run 11.50s all day with only me controlling how fast or slow I needed to go to get my dial in.

So, if you think your going to do the quarter in 11.50 sec, thats what you dial in, you then have to get to the finish line as near or that exact time without breaking out (Going quicker than you said to stop cheating)

Easy  ;)

Next weekend Bobbi, I will be there  ;D (Been working on the car most nights this week to sort out the small problems.)

Shakespeare County Raceway again?
Not a nostalgia meet though Bobbi, so not as many hotrods.

And not many Minis as the British Mini Club had to cancell a big event due to the weather and the only weekend they could hold it at the same place was on this weekend, so even though there will be still a few Minis about its just a test and tune weekend. (Should still be good)

Another good weekend even though I was busy running the Supertwin round, I only managed my 1st run on Sat at 4.30 and with the carb not quite running right I ran a good 11.14 @ 119.47 to beat the best body on time of 11.360 @ 115.67 with The Cunning Plan, I got towed straight back down to the pairing lanes for my next run, it still played up and I only managed a 11.66 @ 114.97, I pulled the chute and as I was not sure where the other car was in the right lane I braked hard only for the engine to cut out, I was stranded just before the first turn off, luckily I was the last one down so Andy towed me back to the pits with the buggy.
The car is so hard to push, It seemed that I still have problems with the brakes sticking, so after the end of the day, the body was taken off and I looked into it. I took the prop shield off and disconnected the prop and found the wheels would turn better, when I went to put the joint back together the bearing were hitting the top edge and it was hard to get them in (We had to pry them apart to get them out) when the car was set up we had to put thick washers between the gearbox mount so it would line up, these were only tacked it so we (Dave Williams and myself) took the mount out and removed the washers, it was put back in without them and tightened down. The bearing now hit the bottom edge, so I got out my box of washers and tried a couple until the joint went straight in. We borrowed Roy Wildings vice to cut the washers so we could put them back in place, he said that the chassis had properly settled now and should be OK now.
With that all done we packed up for the evening.
As the body was still off, I decided to do the first run on Sunday without it, it was not until mid afternoon I had the chance to go and warm up the car, it started and then cut out; I could hear the fuel pump was not running so thought that one of the wires had come loose. I got my tester out and found there were 12+ volts getting to the pump. We took it off and took out the filter in the bottom to find some silicone in there, I took as much as I could of it apart and when it was put back together tried it on the battery of my van, at first it still did not work but after giving it a couple of taps it strung back into life. I had to go and do some work so Dave put it all back together again, when I went back Dave notice that the squirter pump was not working that good and may be the problem with the flat spot. I went to see Mark Richardson (Pony Express) and borrowed some pump cams to try, we found one that worked the full stoke and started the car, after a couple of adjustments it seemed to be working as it should.
We took it down and when it was my turn, it decided to play up again, but when I did get into stage I ran a great 10.85 @ 122.74 (The best for the plan with the body off was 10.97 @ 119.57)
We went back to the pits and fitted the body and done some small adjustments again, this time it did not play up so I decided to try and load the converter up, but all I did was get a nice big red and ran a good 11.40 @ 118.77.
I would like to thank Dave & Linda for crewing for me and Gus for lending us his car for the weekend for towing the car.
There is still more in the engine, it’s just finding the time to set it up now, it took nearly a season to sort out the old car and that’s without doing the work up the track as well, but I (we) will get there and I'm happy with the way it’s going.

I admire your patience Tony. Id've given up & gone home in a sulk when it refused to start.  :P
So what meet was this?

it was a choice of packing up and spending another 90 quid on a new pump, or having a quick fiddle a couple of taps and trying to get it going. Its been sounding funny for a while now (Clicking quite loud all the time), put it now sounds like it used to (loud clicking until the bowls are filled, then a quieter slower click after), so I think was something stuck in there and its now gone.

The other week I took the carb off and set both the throttle screws so the butterflys were open as recemended, ajusted the idle screws so they were 1 1/4 turns out each and it started straight away but was a little uneven, turned the throttle screws 1/2 turn and idle screws out 1/4 turn, it was better on the idle but chucking out black smoke, turned the idle screws in half turn each and it sounded real good and revved clean.
As the tank is off ready to be polished, I was running off my jerry can so could not drive it, but I jumped in to see what happened when I put it in gear, it used to pull the engine down, but this time it went straight into gear with no problems, I could also take it over 2000 on the footbrake (No transbrake) where before it would creep forward anything over about 1500.
Last weekend I took the car up to the Open Sports Nationals, I had phoned Mark Norton to arrange for him to come and put the Tags on and weigh the car and trailer.
He arrived late Sunday afternoon and with the help of Steve we took the body off and Mark gave it a quick check over and put the stickers on (It had already had a full check while being built, but as it was not painted Mark could not put them on.) We weighed the car first in lbs which was 1672lbs. I needed to know what it was in kilos for the trailer weight, I also hope the car would be around 750kgs but with Glen on the pen it came out as 795.5, it was not until I came home that looking at the corner weights that the sum looked wrong, I checked them and found that it should be 759.5 with Glen putting the 5 and 9 the wrong way around. The only other thing we noticed was the back end is 13kgs heavier on the left side to the right, the only thing we can put this down to is the off set diff, it don't seem to make any diffrence with the handling.
We then weighed the trailer which came in at 472kgs, which with the compined weight of 1231.5kgs which is well under the 1550kgs GW of the trailer.
On Monday, I had Paul the do a noise check with the silencers in, as I dont have a rev counter, I set the shift light to come on at 4500 where it needs to be, the max is 120 db and the first try was 120.2 and the second was 121, so with a little more stuffing will be good if I want to go in Pro ET.
My next meeting is the HRDs and I am looking forward to it, I was told on the weekend that I will be the only scrutineer there, so I am going to be very busy. I know I have one crew man coming (Cheers Doc  ;) ) to give Steve and myself a hand so hopefully see some of you there.

The only other thing we noticed was the back end is 13kgs heavier on the left side to the right by 13kgs, the only thing we can put this down to is the off set diff, it don't seem to make any diffrence with the handling.

Try putting some more air in the left side to ballance things up a bit ;D


Sounds like your getting there Tony.

not long to go now before the HRDs, car will be up Shakey before me as I took it over to Dave & Linda's last night, they are going to set it up tomorrow so when I get there about 8/9 pm we can just move the trailer and I can park the van in its place. (We will move the trailer onto the grass somewhere out of the way.)
During the week I have been doing a Little cleaning and even started it (Two pumps of the throttle, hold it down a little and press the starter button and off it goes, keep the revs up a little and it settles down to a nice tickover  ;D ) Its now fueled up, the battery's fully charged and ready to go.
It will be running without the body Saturday and with it on Sunday.
All that's needed is the star driver and a tow (Doc??)
Don't forget to come and say hello, I can see me in the scrutineering bay most of Saturday (Goes quiet Sunday as most people go for the weekend.)
See you there

I thought you'd be busy scrutineerng all weekend & wouldn't get to play Tony. Glad we'll get to see the Coupe in action.  ;D

The weekend did not start as I would have liked, Lucky I had taken the car over to Dave & Linda's Wednesday evening so they could tow it up and pit it Thursday and give me a hand over the weekend.
I managed to finish early and we on my way by 5.30, but took me well over a hour just to get the 20 odd miles to Newport, then getting to Evesham to find one of the return pipes on the engine had split and dumped over 20 quids worth of fuel up the M5 and over the back of the van. (If the car was on the back that would have been as well.)
I had guest driver for the weekend, this was Blue (wizzkitt) from BSH magazine, but her weekend had also not started as it should, having taking over12 hours and not 4 hours to get to the track, so not wanting to risk anything going wrong with my car pulled out, Blue still plans to drive the car, but at a smaller event so it would be less busy and more relaxed.
Ian (Doc) (From the  http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php) site came up for the weekend to give me a hand and tow the car with his trike (Cheers Doc)
We had taken the body off for Blue so after a very busy Saturday I managed to get booted and suited right at the very end of the day, only to get right to the front and as they were already well over curfew were turned back. I had volunteered to do one of the fire burnouts, so has I hadn't had a run and did not know if the carb was sorted Ian towed me behind the wall so I could give it a couple of blips to try, as there were not problems we took the car back to the pits and fitted the body.
When it was nearly time we went back around the back of the wall to wait until I was called. I have for years (Long before it started again) wanted to do a fire burnout, I was thinking of doing it in the Mini, but knowing that it would all end up inside the body as it never had any tubs I thought it was too dangerous. I did not feel nervous at all and was looking forward to it, so I got myself strapped in and waited for the signal. I drove out from the wall (only to know the ignition switch off to the delight of the crowd as I could hear them) Dave guided me into the water, Kev did the deed of putting the petrol down with Bruno lighting it. I could see the flames on my left and it took a while for it to get right around to the right, I saw Dave signal but stayed a little longer until I could not see through the smoke. If anyone asks how it feels doing it, I cant explain but it put a big smile on my face for the rest of the night.
(http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=13502&t=1)
Sunday was a little quieter, so it was a little sooner when I got changed, I text Blue to see if she wanted to sit in and warm it up, she was over in a jiffy and after getting in, I showed her where every thing was and started it up. It was up and down the gears a few times and when the engine was hot it was shut down, I think by the smile on her face she enjoyed it.
Ian towed me down for my first run of the weekend. It was my turn and I pulled into the water and did a (Normal) burnout, the carb behaved itself and I could hold it in stage with the revs up, but it bogged as I took off, just after 3/4 track, the front of the car just started shaking and I had to back off a little. I knocked it out of gear just after the finish line and I noticed to oil light come on, I was not sure if the engine had cut out or not so I switched it off anyway.
We took it back to the pits and I was going to fit the 50cc accelerator pump but had forgot the longer screws were at home, so I adjusted the cam and got ready to go down again.
Ian was leaving at 3 so as I knew we would not get down until after that, I arranged another tow for the last run. Dave noticed that the front tyres seamed to be a little flat and thought that it could be a problem with the balance, to be honest, I was getting called to do other track jobs and forgot to even check.
On the last run I was againest Barnie with his very smart Cortina, half way down the track I managed to know off the ignition (I have to move that switch panel to somewhere out of the way), I saw Barnie on my right and managed to switch it back on again, again the front end shook and I had to back off again. The oil light came on again after I slowed down so again I switched it off.
(At the Open Sports when Paul checked mine on the noise meter he noticed the pressure dropped when the engine was hot, with 40 psi on start-up and under 10 when warm.)
Back it the pits, to save time, I had already moved the trailer so I could put the car straight back on, so after getting dropped off, I started it back up and drove it onto the trailer, (The light was flickering then) and Dave connected the winch strap and put it on the trailer.
That's me for a few meetings anyway as I don't have a spare weekend (The only time I would be able to use the garage) until the weekend before the Halloween Bombfire Burnout. I am going to order and new high volume pump (Which is not as much as I thought) and put the 50cc accelerator pump in, hopefully be there even if its just one run before the season ends.
During the afternoon, Alan from the NSRA came over to me and gave me a box, there had awarded me a Dirty Dozen trophy for the meeting, CHUFFED is a understatement, it put a even bigger smile on my face. Thank you for that, it made my weekend :-)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/dirtydozen.jpg)
I few thanks. Dave & Linda, Ian & Brian, Steve & Lesley (He made me a extension for the chute, so all the lines are fitted into the pack (And thanks Norm for showing me how to stow the lines.) Most of all, Blue (& Scott,) don't forget, your booked for next year.

That's an awesome photo Tony!

Heres Whizz trying the car for size
(http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/384208_3688056369191_29667700_n.jpg)

The paint matches the hair. :D

And the temperament.  :P
Lookin' good Wizzy.  ;)

Do you mean fiery Andy. ;D

My advice would be never engage Wizz in a battle of wits if you're unarmed.

Great pics - and what an excellent trophy!

I do have a fluffy pale pink temperament. :)

Uh huh.  :P

The new oil pump and gaskets dropped through the garage door yesterday, I cant do anything for a couple of weeks as I'm getting the van MOT tested tomorrow and two weekends later off the sunny Eastbourne the see the bonfire prosession again (6th Oct) (And taking my mum home from her stay with us) the weekends between I will be up the track.
Hopefully I will have it ready for the Bunfire burnup event (Halloween) to check it out before it stripped down and painted.

heres another one from the weekend posted on facebook by Gus
(http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/380127_4700788720610_834333378_n.jpg)

Are you in there somewhere Tony?! You really shouldn't play with matches you know.

After changing to oil pump last night and firing the car up this morning it looks like the car wont be making it next weekend.
After work last night, the car was pushed onto the ramp, the oil was drained and I took the sump off (Wish I hadn't fitted studs insted of bolts as I had to take the starter off :-( ) I took the oil pump off and found it was a Melling but not a High Volumn like I was about to fit. After bolting it all back up I found I did not have any oil and as it was getting late I would not have started it anyway.
 This morning I went and bought some 20/50 and a tin of oil treatment and stuck it in, I primed the pump and the oil pressure came straight up, I put the dizzy back in and started it up, 40 psi on fast tickover but after a very short while, it dropped down below 10 again, so I shut it off and gave it a quick check over to see if I could find a problem, when I started it again, it only went to 20 and then dropped straight back down to less the 10.
 I've taken the battery off and put the car back outside for now, I have been asked to take it to a garage open day and a small show in the next few weeks, so after that, the engine will be coming out and crank checked, if OK new bearings will be fitted (I already have a new set of big ends) and hopefully be out fully painted and running next season.

I admire your dedication Tony. I'm no mechanic, so wouldn't have a clue where to start with fault diagnosis.

Looks like the motor is knackered, changed the oil filter yesterday and I had good oil pressure, but there was a strange noise from the engine and it kept cutting out. I went in this morning and tried to turn it over with a long bar, while it would turn over, it was hard work and sounded horrible.
It wont be for a while but the engine will be pulled out and completely rebuilt.

That's bad luck tony.

 Thats a downer, the moment of realization is a horrible one.  What do you think its done spun a  big end shell or shells.

At the moment and hearing where the noise was coming from, I am hopeing the cam bearings. The very back one is the last to get oil, so heres hoping. (I can afford a new cam (Just))

Went up my friends garage open day this morning (If that makes sense :? ) and it gave me the opportunity to start stripping the engine. Before I started I asked Ceri (The garage owner) to try and turn the engine over to see what he thought, he did and said it felt good, I was surprised as when I tried it, I could barely do it, so I had a go and it had freed off and was turning over very easily. I am still going to strip it all down and find what the problem was, hopefully all I will need just a set of bearings and gaskets.
Del from work was with me and worked on one side of the engine while I did the other, between us it did not take that long to get the heads off.
I am pleased to say that the bores are perfect and at least it don’t need a rebore, the next plan is that in the next couple of weeks the engine will be coming out and put on the stand for the rebuild.
Since I have been running the car, it has been breathing quite heavy into the catch cans and until I got home and looked at the photos it looks like I have found the problem, if you look at the 3rd photo you can see that there is a problem with the gasket between one and two cylinders (Remember this is a Ford) and the water hole. As I said, I didn't notice until I got home so I havent looked at the head yet to see if they need skimming or not, mind you I didn't re touque the head down after a couple of runs, I will have to see.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine7.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine8.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine9.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine10.jpg)
more news as it happens

At least it's not terminal then Tony.

I had a straight 6 jag lump do that to me. It was crap in the oilways in the crank blocking it up. It was caused by wear from the bigend shells. :( :( :( :(

When the crank comes out (Hopefully next weekend) it will be checked and fully cleaned out. (Also the block will be fully cleaned) I am hoping the damage is limited to the bearings as all I would need is some main and cam bearings and a complete gasket set. (Heres hoping  :-\)

everything crossed for you here ;D ;D ;D ;D

worse than I thought cabman, but do able  :'(
Last night I started to strip the engine down, as normal we pushed the car onto the MOT ramp and took the body off. It was not long before the engine was ready to come out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine11.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine12.jpg)
But by now it was getting late so I arranged with Del to be there this morning at 10.
We had the engine out in no time and set it up on the stand so I could have a look inside, at that time I could not see a lot, but when I was taking the end cap off No 3 big end there was lots of play, once off I could see the problem  :(  it had spun the bearing! I took the crank out and sat it on the ramp to take some photos.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine13.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine14.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine15.jpg)
I will be phoning up a local company on Monday to see if it can be saved, its already +20 but I don’t think it’s that bad. I am more worried about the rod and will give that to them as well.
At the moment I have left the pistons in the block, but as there is lots of sludge in there, there’s will be coming out and the whole lot fully cleaned out.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/engine16.jpg)
More news when I have it. (The cam and bores are in great condition)

Spun the bearing? So what exactly's happened Tony? The bearing's seized & turned with the crankshaft?

Not bad Andy got it first time  ;D

Just doing my Stoopid Monkey bit for the benefit of those who might not know Tone. Honest.  ;)

Your spot on, it where the bearing sticks to the crank and turns inside ether the con rod or main bearing caps.
Hopefully its just the crank that needs a grind, if it needs a new con rod, they are only 20 quid,

That's cheap.

Beat me to it!

it had spun the bearing! I took the crank out and sat it on the ramp to take some photos.

[/quote]

That`ll do it. I was told it`s a common problem with big engines but more especially with jags. You could be lucky and only need to take off the siezed metal from the shell, did that to a Bonnie crank and actually peeled the metal away from the crank journal and all was ok.

Best of luck with it.

Looking on the bright side, engine access coudn't be much easier !!! :P

That looks like the shell was too tight on the journal. I would expect both sides of the journal to show signs of stress if it was an oil feed issue. Measure the rod eye and compare it with the others and check for true between gudgeon pin bush and big end to eliminate twist. Failing that it could be a rogue shell. Good luck ;)

Lyons are picking up the crank, rod & piston & block up tomorrow, I have found heavy scoring on No 1 main bearing and marks on most of the others  :-X they are going to check out the crank and the con rod to see they can be saved and the block is going to be hot dipped and cleaned out.
More news when I hear from them, A new rod is 20 quid, a recon crank 155 and a new stroker crank just under 300, plus all new bearings and gaskets. It might have to go on hold until after Christmas, lets see what happens  ???

sounds like you could do with a sponsor ,,

Had the news today that I was honestly expecting, the crank is knackered (Also the rod) it was already +20 and its too bad to go anymore. I have put in a order to Real Steel for their last 351c recon crank (+30) and last con rod. (They have new stroker cranks, but time I buy new rods and pistons to suit it would be well over what I can afford at the moment.) also all new bearings and gaskets.
I have also asked Lyons to fit the new cam bearings, so when the parts arrive I have to phone them and they will pick up the bearings and cam so they can them.
I am away for Christmas so there wont be any updates until I come back.  ;)

Do you know why that bearing spun?

It all looks like it was down to fitting the wrong oil filter and then having a lack of oil pressure  :'(
The oil pressure was great (Over 20 psi at tick over) for the first two meetings, but that was running with the running in lube, so I changed the oil & fliter before the HRDs and I am sure that was the problem. (After fitting the new pump and filter, I had great pressure (30 psi at tick over) but the damage was already done  :-X)
I will make sure I fit the right filter next time!

That is sooo frustrating. Been there and done similar and spent the cash. Oh well I guess we learn by em. Still a bu##er though.

Here we go, 3 months on and I had to do something as its not long before the new season and the body's also got to be painted and the rest tarted up.
After putting the crank in the other week and finding the garage torque wrench was knackered I just left it on the stand. The other day I bought myself a new one and as Linda was working allday today I thought it was time to rebuild the engine.
I cleared the MOT ramp. I had cleaned off all the parts the other week but decided to do it again just in case, (That included the new oil pump) and laid everything out on a clean sheet.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox31.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox32.jpg)
I first torqued down the mains and put in the pistons using a tool my mate Colin lent me,
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox33.jpg)
never used one of this type before but it made the job so much easier and they were in quickly.
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox34.jpg)
(http://www.cunningplan.net/enginebox35.jpg)
(There are no photos after this due to time (See below))
The cam was already in so I put on the timing chain and this is where it went wrong, I snapped the bolt in the cam doing it up. It took me two hours of carefull drilling to get the old thread out and I ran a tap down there to make sure it was clear. I bolted this back in but this time torqued it down to 40lb (As by the book)
Next was the oil pump and the sump, the engine was turned over and the heads fitted followed but the followers, pushrods and rockers. (I have left them loose for now and will do them in the week when I have time.)
I put the oil filter on and some oil and primed the pump waiting for it to come out the pressure switch hole, only to find it coming out the front of the block. When I had the block back (After 2 months) they had taken out the plugs, there was one left and I could no see where it fitted, I knew now and fitted it back into the hole, I primed it again until it came out where I wanted it to and that was it for the day.
I am having problems with my Sprinter, one minute it fine then next it just looses power, I'm going to have to sort that before I tow again, so that's the first on my list for now.

tony check youre fuel filter on the sprinter ,,i had one where the element broke up internally, :o

Cut a long story short, my nethew borrowed it to go and pick something up in Harwich, he ran out of diesel on the way home and put in the can in the back but still could not get it going. He was picked up by his recovery and taken to a garage where he put fuel in and they managed to start it after a while. I had it back and it was flat, so I bled it and had air from the injectors. since then I have changed the fuel filter, put in injector cleaner, blown out all the fuel pipes and made sure there are now leeks (Even changed some of the return pipes)
Going up the track last week, it went but not much go, on the way home after a couple of stops where it was flat then running great, I got onto the motorway and it was flying and even went over 80 at one point (I normally sit at about 65/70)
I have read the forums and it looks like a problem with the injector with the lead on it or the map sensor (Which I have cleaned already) they say it could also be a brake light problem (I did have one out the other day)
Also after I bled it I washed the engine down as it was covered with fuel so I will check all the connections.  :-\