Manky Monkey Motors

A while ago it was suggested that Loony host a garage evening at his workshop.
Local car club, the Surrey Street Rodders, (the guys who run the annual Wheels Day show at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot), arrange a visit to various members' garages once a month during the Winter, just to mooch about & see what everyone's up to. They asked if Loony would be interested in them calling in one evening.
Don't suppose many of the SSR run their rods through the Winter weather, so I expect they'll arrive in "straight" cars, but would be handy to get some second opinions on a few things & see what reaction our Ford Pop project gets.
We've also got an ulterior motive- neither Loony or I are fully fledged mechanics so it'd be good to have some more experienced bods to help us fire the beastie up. We're hoping someone will have the know-how to set the Holley carb up, hook up a temporary ignition circuit & get it running.
So a date's been set for the 8th of February, which is a Tuesday evening. Mid evening onwards. If anyone fancies joining us, you'll be very welcome.
Loony's workshop's about 3 miles from junction 6 of the M3, just outside Basingstoke, Hants. It's a barn with a roller shutter door, facing open farmland, with no heating, so be prepared for a chilly evening -we'll bring along some coffee & donuts. Also be prepared to get your hands dirty!
If you're free to come along, PM me for directions.

dont mind if i pop along do ya, ;D

Ive got 2 Calor Gas heaters with empty bottles he can have foc if he wants some heat in his workshop...all they are doing here is taking up much needed space....Voodoo...

Dave, we'd be hurt if you didn't come along!
Mr Doo, not my workshop but they might well come in handy. Can you email him to arrange collection/delivery? Check his profile for the address.  ;)

What time from as I may come from work

Hiya again...if anyone can pick these up from me and drop to his workshop that would be good...give me a shout....Voodoo.....

Whereabouts are you VooDoo?
Paul, Loony & I will be there most of the day, working on vehicles as normal, (I'm on holiday from work that week). You've got my mobile number so just text me when you're on your way to make sure we're there. The SSR guys will have about 40 miles to travel so probably won't be there till around 8pm.
Like I said, it'll be dark & cold as the barn's in the middle of farmland, so wear something warm -& expect to get roped into helping out.  ;)

Argh! Loony arrived at the workshop today to find a letter from the electricity board -Sorry, but we'll be cutting the power to do some essential maintenance work ...on the 8th of February. Typical! Of all the days they could choose, it has to be when we're due to have company.
According to the letter, the power will be shut off between 9am & 4pm, so fingers firmly crossed it'll be O.K by the time people arrive.
So Loony & I will be there from around 3 o clock onwards.

Ah so no day of play for you then lol....if you got the time then you could come pick up these heaters as ive run out of room in my workshop thx to remodelling lol....Give me a ring on: 07971 366697......Voodoo....

Really appreciate the offer Dave, but I don't think either Loony or I can get over your way in the next couple of weeks.  :)

I for one would love to come down but don't finish work until 8pm  :'( :'(

 :) I'm on holiday next week, so I'm quite happy to stay there till midnight to get stuff done -or at least until the donuts run out.
You're always welcome Shaunus. Your Pop must be nearly finished by now mustn't it?               :D

Good luck for tonight, wish I could be there take lots of photo's please.

Will do, though my digital camera ain't good in low light & it'll be pitch black outside by the time most people arrive. We think we might have around 20 guys calling in. Half a dozen or more of the Surrey Street Rodders -not expecting them to bring their custom motors out to play in the middle of February, but you never know. Also some local lads, plus a couple of you chaps. Just an excuse for a bit of a get-together really.
Typically, the local electricity board have decided to cut the power to do some maintenance work today, but say it'll be back on by 4pm. Hope so. Also typically, my car's started playing up. It'd be just my luck to be stranded at the roadside somewhere while everyone else is working on my truck.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi Mr Monkey
Your to far away to show a face plus being a bus driver I'm working the late shift.Hope your car keeps going and you get done what you planed for tonight.Have a good time, I'll look forward to seeing the pictures.Hope to see you all at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport.
All the best
Merv

it was a good turn out last night.
Andy being the perfect Host talking to every one .Lunatic in the kitchen making the tea and coffee.whilst three guys(sorry don't know who they were) Andy said they just turned up and started working on the car ;D ;D

Gate crashers! And very welcome they were too. We were originally approached by the Surrey Street Rodders, who organise a garage night once a month, to see what's going on in other people's workshops. They asked if we'd like to host the February get-together. Yeah, great -we need a hand to fire the car up so come on over. And things kinda grew from there. We had no idea either the lads from Wyliez Autos or the Guzzlers car club were coming, but were very pleased to see them all.
Many, many thanks to all who turned out on a chilly February evening to come see us. Nobody actually counted, but we reckon between 25 & 30 guys, all crammed into Loony's workshop, drinking coffee, munching donuts & peering at the Pop.
Nice to see our own Terry T & Goforest, plus a contingent from the Surrey Street Rodders & an equal number of our mates from the Basingstoke based Guzzlers rod club, (turns out they've recently taken on a community workshop just over the hill from Loony's place). We middle aged hotrodders were matched by a showing of local younger petrolheads too. We were chuffed to bits with the turn out. Loony's workshop's never seen so much activity. Good job there's plenty of parking room in the yard outside. There's talk of maybe arranging a barbeque there in the Summer.
Stars of the evening were definitely Ian & the crew from Wyliez Autos. They arrived from Reading in Berkshire in their Chevy Suburban truck, pulled a propane heater out of the back & a box of assorted ignition parts & immediately set to work, hooking the Pop up. After some discussion about the firing order & whether it needed a ballast resisitor or not, the shop was soon reverberating to the sound of 3 & a half litres of V8, snorting through the 2 foot long header pipes. Damn that's loud! Think we might be needing a silencer or 2 on that at some point. Sounded great though. Considering it's been sat for the best part of 2 years without even turning over, it fired up & ran suprisingly easily. A tribute to the bullet-proof nature of the big Rover motor, more than our mechanical skills I suspect. I happily admit I'm no engine specialist. I can build a vehicle around a motor, but when it comes to setting it up & fault finding, I stand back & let those that know do their thing. So I was happy to chat & look on from a safe distance while the chaps filled an old scooter tank with petrol, wired the battery up to a temporary starter button & generally performed their mechanical magic.
A couple of minor glitches to sort out-
1 petrol leak from a gasket under the front of the new Holley carb, (I blame Taz for that as she was the one who rebuilt it on the kitchen worktop).
1 water leak from the new aluminium radiator, (I had the bottom outlet repositioned to clear the front axle. The end of the outlet pipe's not quite round, so the rubber hose didn't seal properly on it).
1 oil leak from the new rocker covers, (O.K, my fault for not tightening them down enough).
The electric fuel pump that came with the engine also turned out to be knackered, pouring petrol out, hence the gravity fed plastic bike tank.
Other than that though, not bad at all. We ran the engine 3 times during the evening, sounding smoother each time as things settled in & warmed up. The Wyliez boys were very keen to get it over to their workshop in Reading, where they can put it up on the lift to weld the underside of the chassis, re-bleed the brakes, wire it up & generally fettle it, ready for it's first drive.
So looks like our next task is to finish the exhaust system, then start in on the bodywork.

As is always the way with social gatherings, I didn't get to talk to half the people there last night, so to all of you who came along, a million thanks guys. The enthusiasm & generosity was truly heart warming. I'm sure Mr Lunatic will join me in saying you're all more than welcome to call in any time you're passing.
As predicted, my digital camera was cr*p in the low light conditions, so most of the snaps I took were too blurry to post. So if anyone has some better pics we can use, or footage of the engine running they can post on YouTube, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again chaps.  ;)

Wyliez Autos (http://www.wyliezautos.co.uk/default.html)

 

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A celebratory donut.
The motor was actually running at this point, but without the aid of film footage, you'll just have to imagine the rumpitty, rumpitty engine note for now.
Hey, we're proper hotrodders now!  8)

Kool, looks like it was a fun night, really wish I had been there!

I dunno who they were Doc -they just arrived out of the darkness, ate all our donuts & left again. Oh, & fixed the Pop while they were there.  ;D
Call in next time you're up this way mate. I'll let you sit in me truck.

Will do next time I'm allowed out  ;D see you at monkey world first tho'

Will do.
The Surrey Street Rodders organise the big annual "Wheelsday" show at Rushmoor Arena, near Aldershot, at the end of April. There was crazy talk of getting the Pop wired up & bodyworked enough to trailer it there & cruise around the show field in it. ...hmmm.

Thought about coming down but still not well.

Shame that as it looks like a good time was had by all. ;D


Maybe next time.

You not well Iain? Always welcome when you're up to it Sir.

Great night pleased it started and the flames out the exhaust where welcome on a cold night ( Chris didnt think so ! )
Sorry me and the other Guzzlers gate crashed, Hope the teething problems can be sorted out promptly and wheels day
could be a good target for a shake down on the show field.

 ;D You guys were very welcome matey.
Chris was in charge of the temporary ignition switch -right next to the end of the open exhaust.  :D
I imagine it'll be more of a shake apart run around the show.

And you had the cheek to call my fuel tank. At least mine was taped on Andy  ;D ;D ;D ;D

 ;D

yea but at least you road yours :-X

 :D

We'll be driving ours soon enough ..honest.