Manky Monkey Motors

As title suggests I have a new project.  :D  Well almost. Hopefully Scottie of Moving Hot Rods will be picking it up for me next Monday.  :)
All I can say at the moment, is that it's different, post war (but only just) has already been modified but is going to be radically altered.  ;)
I suppose I'd better let SWMBO know before it turns up  :-\

Ooh, ooh, ooh!! What've you bought Dave?!
...hang on , I thought the rule was you had to sell one vehicle before you got another? Don't tell me the trike's gone?

Nope, trike and bikes are still here! At the moment at least.
Had a massive tidy up of the garage and managed to get one half clear, so I had better fill it before the wife sticks her car in there. ;D

 ;D

That's mean of you, start something then leave us hanging  :)

I know  ;D
If everything goes ok then pics and details next week. Some may not like what I am planning.

i always say if you dont like it, buy it and do it your way

Then if we don't like it,























You can do it again. ;D

 8) can't wait sir...

If I can pull this off I think you might like it Shaun :)

Talk about dangle the proverbial carrot  ::)

That Olds is a big tease, and at his age   :)

if it's a fraction as cool as your trike, and I don't do trikes I will like it sir  ;D

 :D Thanks.
Here is a hint. Think Brooklands (or Pendine  ;)) 1930s.

Its a picnic hamper on wheels.

Pics and details as promised.
The 'thing' is a 1960 Autobee mounted on a 1940s Morris Eight chassis.
Picked it up today with help from Scottie of movinghotrods.co.uk  ;) He seems to think it would make a unique gasser.

.

Plan on cutting the body off very soon as all I want is the chassis and running gear. Pair of steel seat buckets came with it and these may get used but will probably make aluminium versions.

Once I have the awful body off, I should have a lot more room. Chassis seems to be very solid. Preliminary drawing of what I plan on doing.
A snug two seater.

Ahh, that would explain Scottie's odd post on FaceBook. I'm surprised he didn't make a detour to Loony's yard with it!
I kinda like that body -you don't fancy restoring it then?!  :) Those steel buckets would look great in something like, I dunno, a T bucket?

Save the Autobee!

olds i know i,m being a cheeky monkey  ;D but if you dont use them seats could i have the option of swapping you some beer tokens or something usefull for them  only they look almost identical to what should be in my 451GMC i only have the remains of one of my old seats.
cheers,
,,mike,

Sorry Mike but there is already a couple of folk ahead of you wanting the seats. ???
Perhaps I should start making copies. :D
Started pulling out period bits that I may need and adding them to the pile of new stuff that came with the wreck.
Luckily the new parts it came with include five 4.50-17 tyres, handbrake cables, shocks, exhaust (that I probably wont use) and other bits I haven't sorted through yet.
Other bits I will Ebay. I have two front screens door glass with winders and rear screen but have no idea what they are from ::) They will probably go to the tip local waste recycling and disposal facility, along with the other junk.
I will be on the lookout for a set of 17" wire wheels, six stud 4" pcd as fitted to the earlier models (yes Shaun, WIRES  :D).
Oh, this also came with a pair of strange, optional extra, tail fins. :o

Fins are always cool!

There has got to be someone out there who will want to buy that body Dave. And its all cash toward the build fund.

To late. And to be honest I have seen washing up bowls with more structural integrity.
Most of the body off now. Not a hope in hell of getting it off in one piece. Not only were most of the fixings rusted solid but the body had been glassed to the chassis.
The rear extension to the chassis is bolted on. So far there are only minor repairs needed where bits have been cut off and a couple of bits of angle iron need cutting out. The floor pans could do with replacing but as these are bolted in so it's easier to make new than repair.
 

Flippen  ek  you don't hang around

Superb Old's old chap  ;D and wires Mmmmmm :-* as an aside.... I was chatting to a chap with a Buggatti body sitting in his shed at the weekend... he is looking for an aero engine for the build  ;D

 :D
Think I saw a pair of air cooled Lycoming engines for sale on Ebay the other day.
Didn't know that you could make fibreglass this thin. Average thickness 1.5mm  :o some areas are less than 1.3mm. No wonder it was breaking up.

A couple of photos of Mr Brock's roadster project.
Plywood body, covered with hessian, mounted on a Pop chassis with Reliant engine.

Nice. Will have to have a chat with him. I would like to go for an aluminium airframe type of construction but costs may rule that out, so aluminium clad ply may be used.
Familiar looking engine.
Still stripping the chassis. All bodywork removed apart from front wings and scuttle (run out of room to store the removed bits). I have been trying to remove the floor pans. Six pans held on with a total of 78 bolts that are all rusted solid and to add to the fun, someone has added two rivets between each pair of bolts >:(  Oh what fun I am having.

Sounds like a job for Mr Angle Grinder!

Saint Angle Grinder surely?

Trying to refrain from using the angle grinder. Soaking the bolts in Wd40 seems to be working.
Not a lot of progress today. Took most of the old body to the tip and got some strange looks. Just the front wings left of the fibreglass to remove then the plywood bulkhead and steel inner wings. The pedal box is made of steel and I might be able to reuse it, or at least it will make a good pattern.

The more I pull this apart, the more I realise I am doing the right thing.
The bulkhead was made of thick ply. Notice the use of past tense. It was so rotten that it was more like corrugated cardboard and the gearbox mounts while being made of substantial angle iron were welded to the floor pan and not the chassis. For that at least I am grateful as it means the chassis has not been butchered.

.

I find it quite scary that vehicles like this no longer need an MOT -not every "classic" is well preserved.

Very true.
Luckily the chassis itself is in excellent condition, only needing a new rear cross member.  This is made of a much lighter gauge steel than the rest of the chassis. ???

From my memory of my old Series E that isn't unusual ! I had a 2 door back in around '75 .If memory serves me correctly watch out for the chassis itself as it's back to front ie it's U /C section with the OUTER being plated in with thin gauge as opposed to the normal other way round.

At least the important bits you want off it are good , would have been some project trying to restore it

Olds, that's not a '40's BMC motor/box, surely, the "8's" were running SV motors then, as were the early Minors. Looks more mid 50's and onward to me, but??...................Morrag

Correct as always Morrag  :D
Yep someone has put in an  A series engine and remote change gearbox. Probably from a late Moggy 1000. That would make it a 1098cc and seeing as the engine turns over and seems to have some compression, I will go with what is fitted. Though I will have to seriously rework the engine and gearbox mounts.

The 'A' Series motor is a favourite of mine, and really I prefer it and its box to the Reliant! and as I'm sure your aware, Olds, the many years of standard "goodies" as fitted to the various versions of Sprites&M.G's of its type, make it  an ideal basis for what your about, nice one ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)............Morrag

I prefer it and its box to the Reliant!

Mwahhhh! Don't listen to him children!  :o

Sorry Mr. M, how foolish of me! :P :P :P :P :P..............nah, had my fingers crossed behind my back when I typed that!................. ;D

Chassis now stripped of all panelling. Need to make new engine and gearbox mounts. The mounting points on the gearbox are too far back unless I make a new cross member but the whole point is to not alter the chassis at all. Seems the original Morris 8 gearbox, had brackets held in place by the tail extension bolts. so I will replicate this to suit the new box. 

Could also do with moving the engine back a touch.
Bye the way MM being as you said that "fins are always cool" I have kept the tail fins. Thought you might like them for the T bucket.  ;D

On the 8 points system you allowed to ADD crossmembers but not remove.

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

Thanks Dave!
Kev, can you drill the existing chassis to bolt/rivet in a new cross member, to keep it looking original, or does it need to be welded?
Weren't older frames designed to flex with riveted joints, whereas welding would create a rigid area in the chassis that could fracture?

Thanks for the link Kev.
Trying to do this without any mods at all to the chassis if possible.  This means undoing some awful mods like angle iron welded to the top of the rear chassis rails to flatten them to allow a flat floor. ???. and an angle iron cross member, that the axle would hit  ??? ???.
Keeping the std. axles, steering, brakes and suspension as well, but may have to remove a leaf from each rear spring as it's going to be a lot lighter.

First purchase ( apart from the heap) a radiator grill. I know there is a long long way to go before fitting but I needed to know the shape to work out the body drawings, That and the fact it was straight, shiny and dirt cheap  ;D It was this or a battered original early Morris 8 one at £110  :o
The bars will be replaced with mesh.

nice :)

That's a really nice grille Dave. I like the bars!

I like the bars to.

I to bars I like

New rear crossmember parts ready to be welded in. The only real bit of corrosion on the chassis. For some dumb reason Morris decided to make a channel section, from only 16swg (1.6mm) thick steel.
Decided to do a double channel section with a 25mm gap between the front and rear walls forming a narrow box within the channel with spacing/anti crush tubes where bolts go through. Should look original at a glance but be much stronger.
I really must get a folder. Making two channel sections that fit together took a while.

At the moment it's all looking a bit too normal.

-fins Dave, it needs fins!

Funny you should say that. Been sketching out aircraft style tail fin  ;)
Rear crossmember in and now I'm cutting out the bits of angle iron bed frame, someone added. Jeez they used a lot of weld.  >:(

Now the back end is pretty much sorted, I am trying to work out engine/gearbox position. Seems the engine position (too far forward),was determined by the length of the prop and 'mounts' made to suit. While pondering I noticed a slight problem with this engine conversion.
To remove the distributor cap the steering column needs to be removed first.  :o
Looks like I will be moving the engine back (and perhaps down and across  :-\) a bit further than anticipated.

the engine being back a bit won't hurt, these cars look best with long noses  8)

New panels made for what would have been the rear seat area. This is where I plan on putting the fuel tank. At the moment not welded in as it will be easier to finish the chassis / running gear without them. Just want to get everything that's supposed the be welded to the chassis made and ready to fit.

Don't tell me you made your own swages Dave -just what I wanted in the panels I've just welded into my Pop!

I'll lend you a hammer.  ;)

Hand beaten. Bit annoyed that one is not parallel to the panel  :-[ Should really do the base panel ( 10 ribs running front to back) but with 18 swg (1.22mm) steel you really have to beat it and distortion is a bitch.

Cracking job olds,Love the oldschool or should i say Olds-school style of working,
Can i ask is it galvanised or plain sheet,If galvanised as you probable know dangerous stuff to weld,
I had a very bad experience myself some years ago.

The rear section is galvanised, so naturally precautions will be taken. Always a good idea to point this out though.  :)

Due to difficulty in making large compound curves, I'm going to try a massive cheat regarding the rear end.
Moggy Minor bonnet. This will have 8" taken out of the centre which will sharpen the rear (or is that front?) considerably. The bottom flare out will be removed and an infill panel put in to get the height right. Or it might end up a pile of scrap.

When you told me about that the other day I thought it was a brilliant idea. I thought the flat swage down the centre of the bonnet would add some interesting detail to the design & imagined the flare on the edges would line up almost perfectly with the outside edges of your chassis -not so? Can we see a photo of your rear end please?  ;D

Or even your vehicle's rear end.........

 :P

Ok here's a pic of my arse.
I know what you mean Andy but I can't take 4" out of each side and have it match up with the centre. Still plan on using the flared bottom section as the basis of the frame covers at the rear. Just have to add a bit each side.
The bonnet looks really scabby but it's just paint. It has never been filled or otherwise messed with.

That should work very nicely. You didn't make Heather the Post Lady lug that up your driveway did you?!

Talking of post lady's,Are you going to be working on sunday's now Andy.

Nope  :) Though she has been delivering bits and has had a look at what I'm doing.
This is hopefully, sort of what it should look like when narrowed.

Perfect. Heather used to own a trike, (Honda CX500 engined I think). 
Royal Mail are in the habit of telling the public what we're doing before they bother to tell us. They've vaguely talked about trialling Sunday services, but that's all we've heard.
I'd imagine it'd be a very limited service done by a couple of guys on overtime, just delivering large parcels or Special Delivery items in a van, rather than the whole workforce.

If you start working Sundays the pop will never get finished !
Lots of complicated cutting and welding to get it to look like that though and I know there is a lot of built in stresses in that bonnet from  pressing. When it gets cut god know what is going to happen :-\

Ba-doing!
My day off today, so will be at the workshop later.

Nice lateral thinking Dave :)

First got the idea a while ago when looking at pics of the Morris Mosquito.
Took the plunge and cut the bonnet up. Didn't turn into a pretzel, so the two halves have been tacked back together. Doesn't look so much like a Moggy bonnet and I'm pleased with the result so far.

Perfect.

Looks good that 8).

Well it doesn't look quite so good at the moment. Added 85mm of depth to it today. Spent two hours just trying to get it all lined up to butt weld the seams but had to give up. So it's going to have lap welds and I will have to tidy things up later. Also have made up the engine mounts and finalised the position of the engine and gearbox.

.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Valley-Gas-Speed-Shop/286815321872

Thanks for the link  :) Interesting project. Personally wouldn't try to copy a previous design, especially one so famous. Not only could I not afford it, I'm nowhere near good enough to pull it off.
I prefer the original design for the front end and this I am tempted to nick ideas from.

would these have helped with th elining up? ive made a bunce but not used them yet
(http://www.speedwerx.com.au/images/products/4f4d7ed1c82e5buttweld_clamp.jpg)
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/the-rodster/IMG_7460.jpg)

Clever.

Do'h !
Yep, those and another pair of hands would have been great.  I would have needed a lot though. Trying to line up 32ft of wobbly edges was impossible.

a mates model A boattial has Moggy bonnet's for the tail mate... will try and find a pic...

not the best pic's I'm afraid  :-[ :-[

I like that

Nice.  :)

Same car at the Hot Rod Drags in Stratford on Avon today.

.

.

Like those headlights and really want that steering wheel.

nice one Andy, what did you think of the Turbo'd motor  8)

It was big & very turboey.
I'm never sure about those lights -I've forgotten what make they are. Loony will know as he follows trends far more than I do. They're much sought after by the guys who want all the correct period accessories, so probably horrendously expensive. Personally I always think they look very modern, like projector beam units, rather than vintage looking.
This was quite a big car, with very tall bodywork, but I think the Moggy bonnet idea will work very nicely on your lightweight little Special Dave.

Lights are e and j style ones?

http://www.hotroddisorder.com/p/e-inside-light.html?m=1

There ya go. Archie's a trend follower too.  :) (joking Arch'!).

Not planning on using those light on this build. Going for something either integrated or agricultural. Not made up my mind yet :-\
Bit of a catch 22 situation. To sort out the rear body I need to position the seats. To fix the position of the seats it would be helpful to sort out the steering column But then until I know where the seats are ......
Made a guess at it all and have lengthened the column. Not finally welded so changes can be made but it's pressed together so tight it will be a real ####
to take apart (made a label so I don't forget to weld). While the box was apart , I noticed the cam follower peg was worn, so a new one promptly made and pressed into place. Now free play at steering wheel is under an inch. That might sound a lot but it's a big wheel. May re bush the box sometime.

Wondered about doing the same thing with the steering box in my Pop Dave. 2 inches of free play, but I'm told it's normal & the VOSA guy was quite happy with it, but driving it's definitely an acquired taste!

Think the pop has worm and gear. The Morris has a Bishop Cam steering box.

Just part of the fun of vintage driving!

You mean things like, steering that has a mind of it's own, tall skinny crossplys that are never quite round with suspect grip levels, suspension from an ox cart, uncomfortable, draughty, noisy, oily,.................. ? Oh such fun!
 ;D

May have a bit of a problem. :( With the seats and steering wheel roughly in place, I realise that while I will be able to get in ok, getting out again might be a problem ( unless someone has a 'sky hook' I can use ). Just too old and stiff, so may have to fit doors  :(
Hopefully  make them so that they are not to obvious, but it would add complication.

LAMBO SCISSOR DOORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/4/425/4061/38562030202_large.jpg)

 :D Now that really would add complication.
Looks like I wont have to re bush the steering box housing after all. Just bought a new one on evil bay.

Yup,same as I had on my old B modified.

 ;D

You mean things like, steering that has a mind of it's own, tall skinny crossplys that are never quite round with suspect grip levels, suspension from an ox cart, uncomfortable, draughty, noisy, oily,.................. ? Oh such fun!

-that all sounds horribly familiar!
Welcome back Kev.  ;)

-and those doors are just ...wrong.

Extended the gear lever just to see how bad it would be.  Neutral to second or forth, not bad but for first and third I would have to cut slots up into the dash :)  Got to fit a remote gear change to the remote gear change, or more likely alter the existing remote with a short shift adaptor, as for some reason I quite like the idea of the long lever.

At least you're thinking of this stuff now Dave. If it was me I wouldn't discover that till after I'd finished it.

 :D Sure that's not true.
A bad back means no garage today, so for diversional therapy I decided to wrap the steering wheel. It's a good idea to shut out the cat before you start because you will drop the ball of string.

I used a fairly small diameter cord/string. A larger diameter would speed things up and give a fatter wheel but this is the look I am after.
A coat of varnish will stop it getting filthy or rotting but still giving good grip.

like that a lot, very period.

I bought a wheel for our T bucket project a couple of weeks ago -it's waiting for you to bind at Loony's workshop Dave.  ;D

 :P
There are all sorts of fancy ways of doing this but I figured simple would be the best and easiest choice. So easy even a monkey could do it  ;)
The wheel is unusually in near perfect condition and it seems a shame to cover it up.
 

Probably one of the best bargains I've bought recently. A new old stock, cast iron steering box housing for £10. These wear, where the output shaft goes through. This would normally mean having the bore machined and bushes fitted. Don't think these have been made since the 1950s so I doubt there are many new ones about.
Will be easier to make a new column than separate the old one from it's housing, perhaps in stainless for a bit of bling

Yeah, I fancied having a go at string binding, maybe stained pale brown, (I was thinking of dying the string in tea). Is there a reason the string crosses the top spoke but not the other two Dave? Maybe to mark the top of the wheel as some race cars do?
We managed to break the aluminium casting on the Pop steering box before we'd even got the car on the road, by trying to turn the wheel beyond the end of it's travel. I found a second box & we're more careful with it now, never turning the steering wheel until the road wheels are rolling, but I do worry it'll go again at some point -it's the weakest link in the steering set-up.

If you are worried about breaking the steering box, perhaps changing it to something stronger like a series II Land Rover one might be worth considering. The Morris one is cast steel, so unlikely to break but there is still quite a load on it when not rolling.
The stringing is like this because with a single stringing, when you reach a spoke the winding direction changes meaning on one spoke the cord has to go over the front. So I figured I'd make a feature of it.
Looking to put the lights, trafficators and horn switches into the wheel centre. With a foot operated dip switch. This should leave the dash clear of switches except for the ignition.

Should look good.

Not much room down the centre of the column but using small diameter wire and relays it should be possible  :-\  Have to look up if indicators  or trafficators are a legal requirement. If not might run without them. I can always give hand signals  :D

Seems since the vehicle was built after 1-1-1936 some form of indicators are required but it can be the side/tail lights or trafficators.

Dave you are a man of so many tallents
Very nice drawing tallent well done sir
Gaz

You are legally required to have indicators but up to August '65 they can be red . I've run red and modern motorists have no understanding of them :( . Personally feel it's safer  to run some discreet LED flashers. Have a look at 100E and Mk 1 Consul range for ready made mechanisms for centre mounting. Think Rover 90 -110 range use the same as well?

Yep, thanks Kev. Hope you are ok btw.
Finding centre mount indicators and horn is not too difficult but prices seem to be astronomical. Also not seen one with matching light switch so thought it easier to make my own.
At the moment I am trying to sort out the ridiculous gear lever situation. Rather than add a linkage system, I decided to try to reduce the throw on the existing remote. Quick change or short shift kits used to be around and the idea is based on these.
Machining the ball seat section off of another remote then bolting it on top allows me to change the gear lever pivot to actuator length. If I get my sums right the throw at the gear knob should be almost halved.
Now all I need to do is make a new gear lever to suit. :-\
The fancy drilled lever is a possible future idea. At the moment I will be happy with a plain one that works.

Thanks for the concern Dave, all appears to be moving in the right direction :)

Good to see you typing fit again Kev.
Dave, you have far too many talents for one Monkey.

Yep, I'm almost good at a lot of things. It's a shame that I'm not actually very good at anything.
New gear lever done (well, an old one modified) and it all works  :o

Having increased the leverage from the pivot point to the selector end, will the weight of the gear lever, now want to drop into gear on its own? Just a thought.

No it's the other way round.
I have to increase the length of the gear lever from pivot to knob. This would increase the leverage (and length of throw), but changing the pivot to selector length to keep the same ratio would stop this. I have actually increased the pivot to selector more than I would like (20mm)because of the minimum length of the casting required (27mm). This has resulted in a shorter throw that is slightly stiffer.

Ooh, I love it when you talk technical.  :-*

Ahhh, I wondered if I had it the wrong way round :-[     ;D ;D

Nothing of any substance to report, as problems with my back has kept me out of the garage for the past week or so. Have spent the time restoring the speedometer and trying to work out the body framing. Have decided on a tubular steel frame, with panels riveted in place. This is largely down to not being competent at ally welding but also I have enough suitable seamless tube (if I don't mess up the bending  ::)).

Get well soon ol' chap.  ;)

Thanks. Getting better. At least I'm off the Codeine now. Not being able to get into the garage drives me nuts.
Refurbished speedo. It started of looking like it had been stored in a bucket of rusty water and to be honest I would have thrown it away, but it gave me something to do. It was a 6" black faced Smiths speedo and I could just make out the tpm and where the numbers used to be.
How accurate it now is, I have no idea. It's not perfect but it's unique and it works .

You're a very clever chap Dave.
Id've been tempted to add the car's name or something to the face while I had it apart. Or replaced the numbers with "slow", "a bit faster" etc. I used to have a mate who's bike speedo had a brass face engraved with Roman numerals.

Nice work olds,
I sympathise with the back I'm having a bit of it myself.

sounds like a plan with the body work, rivet's and overlap.. just like an old plane  ;D and I'd happily trade you your bad back for my complete lack of motivation sir, doing my head in completely not being able to get interested in stuff that has been my passion for over 35 years  >:(

I'm not suffering from lack of motivation Shaun, just an abundance of indecision.
Lots of scraping of old paint and what appears to be solidified waxoil from the chassis and then coating with rust converter where it's not clean metal. Doing it bit at a time as it's so tedious. The new front lever arm dampers that had been fitted are wrong and the chassis butchered to make them fit. Found a matched pair of old ones in the box of bits that will fit properly but the arms were  1.5" too long, so out with the angle grinder and welder. Scarf jointed and v butt prepped they should be fine. Cleaned drained and filled with fresh oil they work perfectly. Will have to make new drop links from rose joints, as originals are not available.

"Scarf jointed"?

An odd phrase.

Cash is naturally in short supply for any build, so not willing to shell out £80 + for a starter motor, I bought one on evil bay for 99p + P&P (£10) A bit of a gamble, but despite being made in 1963 and looking rough, turns out to be in really excellent condition, just needing a good strip down, clean and repaint.  :)
Have made a start on the body to chassis rails. These may take a while as they have to exactly follow the line of the chassis rails which bow out and also kick up at both ends.

Plenty available, different sizes, from Moss. Just got to find the right length/application.

Thanks. Yep tried them. Looks like the drop links for the front were peculiar to the Morris eight series E (37-49) and the Wolseley version. Think the MG that shared the body had a different suspension set up. The nearest I can find that 'might' fit, are early Sherpa and they would need cutting and welding to change the angles and length. I will still look for a pair of the correct type.

Handy info Chris, need to get some for my levers ,ta :)

Body to chassis rails nearly finished. Made a J section. The idea being that it's lighter and easier to bolt down than box, stronger than angle, easy to rivet through using solid rivets and the top edge being rolled over will not crease the alloy body panels. The whole body tub will be fixed to the chassis by six bolts each side through these rails.
Well that's the general idea anyway :)
Never sure how much detail to go into in these posts, but as there's not a lot else going on in HotRod Tech at the moment, I will carry on as work progresses.

I don't post much on here but I watch the builds.
I am building a blown Triumph 'historic' drag bike at the moment from scratch and I find lots of stuff from other peoples builds that I can take away and use or adapt so keep up the posts as there are more people interested than you may realise! ::)

That's definitely true Andy. I get feed back from time to time from readers who never post, but drop in daily/weekly/whatever to check progress on their favourite builds. We're all here because we like building stuff, so your audience is already interested before you start Dave. Nothing new to report on my own hotrod build at the moment, (just endlessly adding filler & sanding it smooth, (ish), so keep up the good work chap.  ;)

There is nothing quite as interesting as poking your nose into another engineers workshop and keeping abreast of what he is up to ......... so I say :- GOD BLESS THE INTERNET and sites like this :D  Keep it coming boys.

Thanks for that. Will keep on posting as and when progress is made.
Trying to get into a different mind-set. It's supposed to be a very basic, Brooklands inspired two seater, with a bit of a twist. But I find myself doing things like smoothing out welds that wont even show. ::)
New mantra. Keep it simple, basic and minimal.

Ha! I'm not the only one then!

 >:( Spent the day trying to make a hoop for behind the seats, that matches rear end (reshaped bonnet). Got very close but no cigar and started to get frustrated :(
Think it best if I move on to one of the many other things that need doing, then come back to it another time.

That makes sense to me, knowing you it will all come together in the end

Fed up of balancing the seats on bits of off cut, thought perhaps some floor panels should be next on the list to do. Not very exciting I know but at least it's progress. Made from 12mm exterior ply , managed to do five out of the six before having to give it all a rest for a while. These will of course need thoroughly sealing.
Pic also shows the body mounting rails temporarily positioned.
Looks more and more likely that not having doors may become a real problem in the near future, so thinking of a compromise, a door on the drivers side only. This would still allow a side mount exhaust and stiffen the body a bit while allowing easier access. :-\

No doors on the 3 Wheeler I'm building,Olds, but the sides are low, though I feel I shall still have to make the steering wheel QD otherwise my stiff old joints may present a problem in accessing the drivers seat!! ??? ??? ??? ??? ???..Morrag

It's not the getting in that's the problem, it's the getting back out again. :(
Of course there is always the option of having no sides. ;)
Whatever, some rethinking required !

I know that feeling. I've had to stop lusting after certain cars as they are simply impossible for me to get out of:(

The last floor panel is made and fitted. :) So back to the framing. To quote a fellow monkey "there's nowt as light as a hole, so add lightness". I spent a good while adding a lot of lightness's to what I suppose you could call the A posts. Made from 40x20 box section these will be where two sections of skinning meet. The holes are perfect for the look I'm after and also allows access to set the solid rivets.
Holes and dome head rivets will be a big feature of this build.

Trying to find a supply of 1/8" rivets, found most want about £10 for 50. As I will be using a lot, I was lucky to find someone with a quantity of WWII surplus, at a very reasonable price, so I bought all he had, but that was only 500 so will have to keep looking. Think I will need another 400.

I hate to think how long that took Dave ?

Two hours stood at the pillar drill. Really must get a stool out there.

What gauge is it then ?

14 swg 2mm wall. Main thing was not to wear out the hole saw, so took it slowly.

Who keeps bags of World War 2 rivets?! You sure you're not building a Lancaster Dave?

i remember doing those at school,are you doing them by hand with the 2 dolly things or do you have an air version  ???

Not enough room in the garage for a four engine bomber :'( as for the rivets, I can only relay what I was told.
Will set them by hand. Got a bid in on some vintage tools at the moment, but if necessary I can always make them.
Think I will have to buy a few, or perhaps more than a few, 1/8" drill bits

Back in the day, the first "Special" I ever built was based on a 1935 Austin 7, and me and my Dad boxed the inverted channel chassis with lengths of 1/8"" plate, hand rivitted in the manner you are using, Olds. No welding gear available to me then.. :o :o :o :o :o, but an interesting excercise, particularly as all the holes were drilled with a hand brace, now that was hard,.ho hum, days gone by.......................

hail to the cordless drill and self drilling screws!

Barbarian !  :D

D'oh ! Thought the rivets looked a little big and it turns out they are 5/32" (0.156") dia. not 1/8" (0.125"). Not a problem, just means that I will be making my own tooling after all.

Hi Olds, great piece of work. You have really got my old damaged brain working, first with scarf joints now with rivet snaps. As an old world Coppersmith I spent ages setting and snapping rivets on such diverse things as water boilers and divers helmets. Mostly copper, we had to make our own tooling as a test piece, once examined and passed it stayed with me for years, probably still out in the shed in the old wooden tool box which is the resting place for a Lotus twin cam engine at present. As for scarf joints, we had to reduce the thickness by planishing or thinning 50% then we would cut dove tails in the sheet, push them together and braze together, used to look good if you got it right, then along came Tig welding and all those old skills got pushed to one side, profit became more important.

Thank you sir. From a time served tradesman, praise indeed.
Still have a few of my old apprentice piece tools.

Jeez Chewie,What's that horrible monster in your avitar,
Looks like somthing out of starwars. ;D ;)

i thought it looked like Brian Blessed

Brian Blessed's beard is singularly amazing!

 :D
Cross brace with steering column mounting. Not the prettiest welding but, as it will be behind the dash it wont be seen.

Nice. Like the wholly holey gussets too.

Thanks. Not been able to do a thing for the last week due to back problems  :( So have been trawling fleabay buying stuff I will eventually need.
Managed to pick up a nice brass and chrome calormeter for the front as well as other various bits.

calorimeter?

Calormeter  you know what they are, like a temp gauge that fits into the top of the rad.

Calorimeter/calormeter.
Yep its a Wilmot Breedon one from the 20s/30s. Supposedly does work so I will have to make a reservoir for the sensing tube in the top hose. Not planning on drilling the radiator grill, but mounting it in a small panel between the top of the bonnet and grill.

Ahh -nice.

Nice touch Dave will make it look special. Can you refurbish them? Are they bi-metal springs,and can you get them apart.

Yep they can be refurbished to a degree (pun intended). Yes they work by a bi-metal strip acting on a geared quadrant driving a pinion on the indicator pivot and yes they come apart.
It arrived in the post today and as expected the chrome is not great but I plan on painting the main body and leaving the two bezel rings brass for contrast.
Apart from needing a new seal on one glass (easily done)it needs no other work. Tested in water at 90 C it moves smoothly to normal. Not bad for an Edwardian era instrument.
Looking through some period WB catalogues, shows that chrome plated mascots and instruments were more expensive than silver plated.

That's really nice Dave.

NOT really nice Andy  ........... BLOODY GORGEOUS  ;D ;D

 :D
This bad back is really holding things up. >:(
Managed to get the rear/side frame covers cut out. These are 1 metre long and will shape the rear end, because they support the tail section are made of 18 swg steel. Just need to fold the top edges over to mount the apron sections on (still to be made) and do cut outs for the rear shackles.

So they go either side of the boat tail? Hope the back gets better soon mate.

Thanks Andy. Spent part of the afternoon having X-rays and blood tests  :(
Yep either side of the chassis and sheet metal going across the back to support the boat tail at the right height.
Well that is if it works out.

I'm sure it will

Think it might at that. Managed to get one side pretty much done and in place. Looks a bit bulky, so will have to think about a swage line or hammering in some sort of design to break up the flat side.

That's really nice Dave. Mount the rear lights off the flat sides to break them up a bit?

Most of the flat section will be behind the Brooklands/Velocette style silencer I plan on fitting each side.
Thinking of using a modified 3 into 2 LCB exhaust manifold with cylinders 1 & 4 exiting left hand side, 2 & 3 coming out on the drivers side. Should give an alternating beat each side. Any ideas on this ? Performance not being an issue.

Rear body cross member panel (valance). Rather than a straight panel, I decided to follow the lines of the modified bonnet so it's slightly pointed in the centre. The top edge has also been shaped to fit as it's easier than reshaping the rear ( front ) of edge of afore mentioned bonnet. Next on the list will be the triangular infill sections.

That really does look rather nice Dave.

Thanks. All looks a bit of a mess at the moment, but should look OK once finished (I hope).
Infill sections just about done. Not quite a perfect fit, but close.  Stepping the edge for the sides of the tail to sit in towards the rear, is awkward because of the curvature. Nearly ready to weld and rivet it all together, then I can concentrate on the inner bracing and rear pivots.

(http://ozrodders.com/forum/download/file.php?id=1923)
same but different

I'm liking that, a lot

VERY, VERY, impressive. I wish I could think up ideas like this, or similar ones, or any ideas full stop ! ;D

Hmmm. Can't see Chewie's picture so I will assume those nice comments are about mine  :D
Bits temporarily pop riveted and screwed together. Want to do some small modifications/adjustments before final assembly, but this shows what I intend. The general idea is the whole rear end, can easily be hinged up or removed completely.

love it sir.... wonderful job......

Thanks Shaun.
The search for parts, at reasonable prices continues and Christmas has come early. A pair of new Brooklands aero screens bought for less than damaged second hand ones .  ;D

I'd been looking for a cheap single one for ages, ended up making my own version:(

So have I!

I got fed up of bidding on ones that had chipped glass or fitting missing only for then to sell for about £70 + £10 p&p for one.
Found these new, for £130 the pair, including delivery. Not exactly cheap but they should be perfect for the speedster. Unless I go for a cut down Duvall screen that is.  ;)

Yeah, I think you should go for a Duval screen - then sell one screen each to Kev & me! (Looking for a single one for the T bucket project).

Now of all members/visitors to this site, you Olds I would have put money on making those yourself!.I am surprised, really :o :o :o :o Morrag

I did actually consider that option (but not for long :D ) The cost of a Defender windscreen then getting it cut and the edges ground, let alone making the frames, made me decide it wasn't worth the effort.
 A previous attempt at cutting laminated glass didn't go too well  :-[

Get your drift, but what about an industrial grade perspex, the sort of thing you would make guarding from? as an alternative to Laminated glass. Morrag

Yep, something like 6mm Lexan/Makrolon would be fine.
Looking to make a pair of screen mounting aprons as fitted to MG T types.

I used 6mm Lexan on mine in the end as well.

Did you make any sort of frame Kev, or just use brackets ?
Used to use Makrolon over roll cages. It's incredibly tough and often wondered if it could be used as an alternative body skin material but then it's also expensive.

Used the lean itself with through U clamps but then cloaked it in ali strip to look like it was actually sitting in a frame.

PM me your e mail and I'll send a piccie direct as I struggle with loading photos on here.

PM sent  ;D

Not been able to really do anything still, so been thinking about construction. It's mainly going to be riveted but some areas will have to be done with pop rivets as I will not be able to get to the back to set them. Hate the look of these so worked out an easy mod to make them look like the solid domed rivets.
On the left is a solid aluminium rivet. Pop rivet on the right. In the centre is a pop rivet with a nickel plated upholstery nail, knocked through the rivet and epoxied in place.   

clever as ever dave  ;)

My thoughts exactly

Why are you upholstering that piece of box section? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ;D

 ;D
Morrag you sir are a genius !
 I can turn the steel bucket seat frames into Chesterfield, deep buttoned leather seats with traditional edge nailing ! ;)

Well, there you go then, I'm just greatful the old skills are not dead!! and of course there are no consultancy fees charged :D however.................................... :-\

Rear end welded and now riveted. Time to add some filler and then sand 95 per cent off again ::) This is not going to be a show vehicle so I have no intention on spending too much time on this.

this is the pic i tried to share earlier
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f291/chewie66666/untitled_zps2e6a42d4.jpg)

That looks extremely neat and tidy,Olds, takes me back to the first "special" I ever built, when, due to lack of welding gear, me and my Dad "boxed" the Austin 7 chassis it was based on, using riveted on plates in similar manner, ho hum, days gone by.......................... ::) ::)

Beautifully done Dave.

Strange, today I was looking at one of those American Airstream Caravans. Rivets everywhere, just like yours, good workmanship everywhere.

Bit like this then!!

(http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy95/phunkie_hiboy/Airsteam%20trailer/picture198_640_x_480.jpg)

Had a count up not so long ago (someone wanted to know how many rivets) and there's a little over 2000!!  :o

Lovely trailer !
Luckily I shouldn't need 2000 rivets  :o. Just had a rough measure up and guess I will need another 500.
D'oh! Forgot the bonnet and front apron, so it's now nearer 750.

Finally happy with how the back end looks. Need to get some etch primer on it, but that stuff stinks ,so hoping for a couple of dry days to do it outside. Time to start on the main body tub.

Cracking progress Dave :)

Thanks Kev. Slowly getting there. Trying to get a balance between 30s roadster and late Edwardian steampunk. It would be very easy to go too far into the fantasy genre with this one.

Like what your doing Dave, will this be at Basingstoke

Probably not next year. Not planning on having it on the road until 2016.

found this late last night while cruising the internet, looks similar??

Very nice. Bentley R type Petersen 6.5 supercharged. A lot lower than mine will end up (underslung chassis) and a bit more expensive  :D
Not a lot to show at the moment. Just spent two days slowly bending up the tubing that will form the cockpit perimeter (top edge). Made from three lengths of 16mm OD 3mm wall cds tube.  11 bends, 8 of them compound (two different directions and differing radii). Followed by three large progressive bends to get it all to match  the chassis curved chassis rails and rear section and it all has to be symmetrical. At times it was really doing my head in. :P  Should have started off with a straight framed chassis.
Think I have it all sorted and hopefully will weld it up to the mounting rails and the steering support soon.

Can't imagine how that'll look -it's like watching someone put a jigsaw puzzle together when you can't see the picture on the box  :)
Hope your back's feeling better now Dave.

Thanks. The back is slowly getting better, but can only work for a couple of hours before wanting to lay down.  :(
'Jigsaw'  tack welded together  (hope it makes sense now). Just need to make the supports that go between this and the base frame/front hoop. These will be a combination of 40 x 20 box (drilled like the front hoop) 16mm cds and 8mm round bar.

Aah, yep, now I see.

Front supports made with more holey gussets. These will be on view so trying to make them look a little bit nicer than plain ones. ;)

Nice detail. :)

Thanks.
More brackets and Gussets made. Slowly working my way around the cockpit. Hand rolled and wired edges take some time in 1.5mm steel, but give a nice finish. Perhaps I should invest in a beading machine.
As you can see the sides are going to be very low.

Real craftsmanship there Dave,  I know it would be difficult, but I would love to see some pictures of how you work the metal to get the edges on the gussets, what do you use as an anvil?  What about a tutorial video, esteemed Master??

No problem.
I use my large vice and whatever lumps of metal I have laying around to beat the sheet on.
The following pics show forming a wired edge and a beaded edge
Bending allowance I use is 3 x wire diameter for wired  and 1.5 x for beaded
First you knock the edges over along the scribed line being sure not to form a tight bend.
For beaded this needs to be 90 deg. For wired, I knock it over a bit further.

The wire is the put in place and the edge slowly hammered over, making sure to keep the wire trapped in place. This is a plain wired edge, flat on the side that would normally be seen.
To get a raised wired edge, you need to make a former. For thin gauge steel a bit hard wood is good (mahogany chair leg  :)) for thick stuff over 1.5mm, a lump of brass will do or you can make a tool from steel. Main thing is it has to have no sharp edges that can dig into the work.
With the seam side down, slowly move the former along the edge hammering as you go. Do this lightly, in several passes to avoid creasing the metal.

.

To get a beaded edge the wire is just used to stop the bead collapsing as you hammer the former, as you would for a wired edge and it's helpful to hold the wire in place with some masking tape.
On heavier gauge steel, I use a tool I made for making swage lines, instead of using a wooden former (that, and a bigger hammer  ;D).
There are probably real sheet metal workers having a real hissy fit over the way I do this but it works for me and I hope it helps someone else.   :)

It's a small detail, but makes a big difference to the finished look of the vehicle doesn't it.
Funny anvils should be mentioned -Mr Loon took delivery of a dirty great big blacksmiths anvil today Dave, (that's a big anvil, not a big blacksmith).

The beaded or wired edges are also functional in that they stiffen the sheet steel ( can use a thinner gauge )and also get rid of sharp edges.

Perhaps a forge next. :)

We used to wire the front and rear wings on old Rollers and Bentleys, in the restoration shop at Mulliner Park Ward. Your way of doing it Dave is as good as any other.

Cheers Dave, very interesting reading. Its great to pick up these tips for future reference. 

When were you there ? Did you know Lance ?

That cat will tip that anvil over if its not carefull..................................... :P :P :P :P

It's probably the coldest place in the whole workshop for it to sit.

there used to be something about sitting on cold surfaces, got m ear clipped a few times when I was a lad. ;D
Olds, that is near enough the correct way to do it, even your formula aint that far a way. Great work, good to see old skills being used. ;)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10202089379476243

Hi olds. Fascinating reading all this. Just one question though, I can see the difference between a beaded and a wired edge no problem but why two different methods of edging, what I mean is where would you use one in preference to other?

Really depends on the application.
The top gussets (on the right) are to a large extent decorative items at an ugly junction. Made from 0.9mm steel with a beaded edge and radius edge holes. They are quite strong but still very light.
The bottom brace/gussets (left) are more structural and as such are made from 1.6mm steel, with two wired edges. The wire used being 3mm dia steel rod. Much heavier.

Right, that makes sense thank you. Always good to learn something new.

I was there from 1970 to 73 I didn't finish my apprenticeship went chasing more money. I don't recall a Lance, I spent most of my time with an old boy called Freddie Widham a real artist with metal was Fred.

I think he would have been an apprentice around that time as he's roughly my age. He ended up doing final fit and quality inspections before leaving to start his own company. He does top end restorations nowadays as Romance of Rust.

Body frame nearly finished apart from final welding etc. Front scuttle hoop is made from thick wall 20mm square  box section that I managed to bend without collapsing the walls.
 I will make the firewall and foot wells as a separate sub assembly, so that the body tub can be easily removed without affecting the pedals or steering column. Only dashboard electrics, and speedo cable will need to be disconnected.

thats shaping up nicely

Lookin' good Dave.

I expect a man of your standing has already seen this, but it was pointed out to me today while wandering through the drawing office    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMk-uJ35T0c thought it may be of some use and didn't know where else to post it.

Ron's a good friend of ours and stays with us when he's in the UK. He really knows his stuff and you can't go wrong by copying his methods. He was instrumental in helping sort the corners on the "Airstream" trailer. I have some of his DVDs here if some one wants to borrow or they're always on you tube.

Seen a lot of his work and he makes it look so easy.
I'm not a sheet metal man and don't have the space or money for all the tooling, so for me it's lumps of steel and wood and a large assortment of hammers.  I must admit to wanting an English wheel and a roller/ beading machine, though it's probably a bit late for me now as I don't see myself doing another build after this one.

He's been around a while, he was fabricating dragster bodies in the '60s. He has the philosophy of doing the basics really simply. To start shaping a panel, bend it over your knee or a similar shape to the piece you're making. And making simple tools to help you do stuff easier. There is no smoke and mirrors with him.

Well my sheet metal tools can't get much simpler. For example my folding machine is two bits of angle in the vice a piece of wood and a big hammer  :D
Firewall made today using aforementioned folder. Could do with a 35mm hole saw for the master cylinders or might file out from the 30mm that I have.

At last, a productive day.
Fire wall mounted. The top panel between the firewall and scuttle hoop, and dash area closing panel made. And it all fits together  ;D. Temp held in place with a few pop rivets.

Slow down Dave - you're making the rest of us look bad! :)

Olds how much are you paying for sheet steel and what thickness/grade is it ,,

So far all the sheet steel is old stock. I was given some big sheets of 16 swg a few years ago (it's what I used on the trike). It's a bit on the heavy side but has helped keep costs down. Folding and putting in stiffening swage lines is hard work though.

only asked as i,m going to need queit a bit  we used to get some that was grey  it was real easy to work with and welded like butter  cant remember what grade it was or what it was called ,

Probably Zintec sheet. Not galvanised but has a extremely thin coat of zinc electroplated on.

Offered up the pedals to check sizes etc. and despite having a very narrow gearbox/transmission tunnel, there is not a lot of room. I am going to have to put a blister on the side to accommodate the accelerator pedal. Thought this might happen and it's no big deal but it does mean that I may have to junk the idea of a foot operated dip switch. Looks like the switch will have to go in the steering wheel.

I sat in a single seater like that with a blister side for the acceleartor , cool idea :)

Glad you like it Kev.
Having run out of sheet steel for the moment, I decided to finish off the blister for the bonnet where the dynamo would foul. After annealing the aluminium again, I managed to get another 10 mm in depth. Not a lot I could do about the planishing marks so decided make it a feature by tidying them up then polishing.
Quite like the effect.
Also have started on the one for the accelerator pedal. Will need annealing before I go any further so will have to wait till Mrs Olds is out so I can use the oven.
It's actually almost twice the size of the finished one, but doesn't look it in the pic.

http://roddingroundtable.com/tech/articles/12ewheel.html

Thanks Chewie. Have thought about making one for a while, but always seem to be busy doing other things.
Ok, so the wife has gone out and have annealed it once and given it a second bashing. Starting to look the right shape. Have just annealed it again. BTW the soap used to indicate temperature, stinks the kitchen out. If she comes back soon, I'm in trouble again.

The shape came out fine. Will leave final planishing for another day as I've had enough of hammering for a while.

After being dragged around the shops then hiding visiting the workshop (thanks Lunatic), didn't have much time today but managed to make the, firewall stiffening/pedals and master cylinders mounting plate out of 3.5mm aluminium plate.

One of the advantages of not being able to sleep at night is, it gives me plenty of time to browse ebay. Latest purchase  is a genuine early Enots 2 3/4" Aston filler cap, in chrome on brass. Removed from a vintage coach it's showing some signs of age naturally but it saves me spending upward of £180 then bashing it around to make it look old. Total cost including postage £21  ;D

Ooh, that's nice.

 :)  2 3/4" is the pipe size so it's quite big. Just have to make a fuel tank to go with it !  :D

sounds easy when you say it like that  8)

Making a tank is easy. Getting it to hold liquid, that's totally different .  :D

Can't you crimp the joins over, then silver solder the joints to make them liquid proof.

Yep, you can. The trike one was made of fairly heavy gauge steel because of it's location in the pickup bed, so this I seam welded.
For the speedster, it will be much thinner steel  so will tin the surfaces, use interlocking seams, then run solder into the seams.
Couldn't find a organ pedal type accelerator pad that I liked, so made this one. Don't think any engravers will feel at risk, but it's good enough to put your foot on.

Damn you & your infinite skills!  >:(

You beat me to it, How can any one person have soooooo much talent

 :D
Don't think there's much skill or talent involved. Just patience/boredom and a cheap Dremel  :)
I was thinking of matching clutch and brake, but it's probably safer to use rubber.

You keep telling yourself that and the rest of us will look on through the eyes of the green eye monster  ;D
To be honest its a joy to watch your efforts come to life :)

 :-[ :-* :D
Thanks Merv. It was fun so I might do some more. I sort of got lost half way through, so will draw it out first in future.

Sorted the throttle pedal lever and trial fitted the pedals. Pic shows why I will need a bulge in the RH side.

Looking rather fabulous Dave.

Thanks. Need to make some adjustments. The accelerator pedal is too close to the brake. I may have room to move it across, that will mean a new floor panel because of the mounting holes, or I may have to make a narrower pedal. :(

Ahh, the joys of building. I've lost count of the number of times we had to remake parts of my Pop to accomodate new pieces -still doing it now.

Not been much "joy" recently but managed to spent the afternoon making some master cylinder spacers from aluminium, to adjust the reach and height of the pedals. They were a tad close and I couldn't shorten the pushrods any further.
Also started on the ... can you guess what it is ?.. . Made from 12mm steel plate and hopefully will be finished tomorrow

STEEL THING WITH HOLES IN? ;D

 :) In one of the early issues of AWOL or Back Street Heroes magazine, they ran a piece on basic bike rally cookery. The one implement they used was a spatula, referred to as the MSTWHI -Metal Shovelly Thing With Holes In.
No idea what it is Dave, but I'm intrigued -is that for something that requires 2 large mounting holes, with 2 possible positions?

It was going to be cut into three parts to make the exhaust manifold plates, but have had a rethink and will start again, drilling the corners of the ports first (square ports). So now it's just, yet another paperweight. ::)
Or as Bus Boy put it " a steel thing with holes in it". :D

Central flange done. Not perfect but a hell of a lot better than the standard cast manifold. End ones still to do. Would have been easier if I had some 6mm plate in stock but at least I know they will not warp when welded to the tubes.

And not a CAD programme in sight ......... show off     ;D ;D ;D

  :P
Angle grinder, bench drill and files. Access to a mill would have helped, but you can only use what you have.  :D

You know we all hate you don't you Dave.  :P
He may be annoyingly talented, but he smells funny & throws like a girl.  :o

What i want to know is how does he drill them square holes.
All the drill bits i have are round.

You were told not to tease. :'( I'm gonna tell your mum !  :P
Silly boy ! You grind round drill bits, to make them square.  ::)

You just have to have the right tools!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjckF0-VeGI

Nice bit of kit.
If you don't have a few grand to spend, there is this version. A bit old school but it works.

I spent months when I was a young apprentice learning how to file and chisel correctly, had bruised and skinned hands from holding that damn chisel, still miss sometimes but I'm learning.

Never stop learning. :)

Carbs have arrived. Twin 1 1/4" HS2 and MG 1100 manifold. Had a slight problem with a broken dashpot screw. It had sheared off flush with the surface and would not budge. A lump of weld on the end (something to grip onto plus adds heat) then a soak in WD40 and it came out cleanly.
They will obviously need a refurb, but it's a nice little job I can do inside in the warm, when it gets cold in the garage.

I'm not causing trouble, but try the dishwasher. ;)

Are you joking, or do you mean it

I've washed cylinder heads and allsorts in mine.
But don't tell the swimbo.

After an hour soaking in very hot water and dishwasher powder and a little scrub with an old tooth brush.
Cheaper than sending it off for vapour blasting !

Thats impressive, I'll send mine up ;D

The twin carbs have really changed the look of the engine. Rebuild not finished, but now they are temporarily mounted, I can make a start on the exhaust manifold. Looks like I will have to make do with short ram pipes, as the mouth of the front carb, already protrudes past what will be the bonnet side line.

That does look rather spiffing Dave.

i concur

Nice little handformed teardrop blister over the carbs with bellmouths protruding through  no problem for a man of your talents.

That is the general idea Kev.
Been playing around with tubing, trying to make the exhaust manifold. Two thirds done.  It's supposed to run outside and parallel to, the bonnet side and the front chassis leg cover, as it drops down towards the firewall ( if that makes any sense). Not going to grind down the welds fully, just smooth of them, as the whole thing is going to be wrapped.
Thought I'd have this finished in an afternoon. Some chance ! I must be getting old. :(

That looks great matey.

Cheers. Just about finished apart from perhaps fitting a flange on the exit. At the moment it has a reduced section to take a slip on pipe. Keeping everything lined up and not distorting while welding was a real pain. Had to make a couple of adjustments with the grinder and mig.

Recently made a two branch version for my 3 wheeler, Olds, so know what a prob. distortion is!! >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(..Morrag

I welded up a pair of stainless steel cross-over silencers & tail pipes for my Pop last year & the pipes ended up 1/4" out of line on each side so they don't meet the existing pipes -gonna make the rest of the system fit the tail pipes cos it's easier than reworking them!

Did what was supposed to be the final weld with it bolted to the head. I had to lever the damned thing off, then couldn't get it back on!
Just hoping that once it's well wrapped, the float bowls wont get too hot. Might make a pair of small heat shields held on by the float chamber lid screws

 ;D glad it's not just me then!

No it's not just you Andy. I am more than capable of making a right pigs ear up of this sort of thing.
Decided to keep with the idea of a slip on exhaust pipe rather than flanges as it looks so much cleaner
Manifold painted in VHT paint prior to wrapping. Hopefully this should arrive on Tuesday. Not had 100 per cent success with VHT pain in the past. The idea is you let it dry then run the engine to fully cure the paint. But and it's a big but, if the temperature goes too high before the paint is fully cured, it will come off. The ideal temp for this paint is 250 degrees C. Only one way I know of, to maintain that temperature for a period of time is a temperature controlled heating box, otherwise known as, 'the oven'.
Will have to wait till Mrs Olds goes out tomorrow  ;)

Dave, I usud to cure my VHT coating with an electric heat gun played along the inside and outside.

Not telling anyone how to suck eggs. When you fabricate a manifold type thing that is bolted up to "fixed point" when you finish welding you should stress relieve the pipes, bit of good heat from a blowtorch, then let them settle, when cold they should un-bolt easy. Good time to Sperex them to, as they cool, wire brush and spray, wear a mask!

You are of course correct but the blow torch had no gas  ::) so it was easier to just slit cut and re weld.

Manifold finished. Well apart from replacing those awful stainless ties with stainless hose clamps.
The ram pipes arrived today. Wrong ones and not a matching pair  >:(  But I put them on for the pic anyway.
Think I might have to have a go at metal spinning to get what I really want.

Looks fabulous Dave. Very tidy wrappage. What's wrong with the cable ties?

Looking very nice Dave

Cheers.
Just can't seem to get the stainless ties to tighten. Would be better off with the metal strapping we used to use on wooden crates. Figure worm drive hose clamps might be better and if I position the screws underneath the manifold, should look ok.

I'm surprised you haven't copper wired them.

If they are the type of stainless tie with the small ball bearing in, the only way when we used them on sites, to get them really tight was to push the ball bearing in with a small screwdriver whilst pulling on the tail with pliers or similar. That used to get them very tight then we snipped off the excess and bent the cut end over.
Hope this is of some use

Copper wire, very period. :D
Yep, it's the type with the little ball bearing.  Have to remember the screwdriver trick if I ever need to use these things again.  :)

Started on the rad shell tonight. This could take a while to get right as I'm determined not to use any filler on it other than lead. Cutting down a slightly large shell (ok, it's a huge shell) taking big chunks out then brazing and soldering it back together. It's made of brass, so no welding.

I'm impressed by your courage Dave!

 :-\ Some might say stupidity.
Making that first cut was hard, but after that there was nothing to lose. Hate to think how much a custom made radiator shell would cost and I don't want something that is recognisably from another vehicle.
Small reinforcement, for a bit of fun and luck. 1917 penny soldered inside.

Like the peak in the top of the shell.

Worked out quite well for a first try.  ;D
 Have to sort out some sort of grill for it but that can wait.

That's rather luvverly.

Thank you kind sir.
It's not perfect but close. Really like the shape. Removed 6" out of the width at the top. Reshaped the bottom to lose 2" in width and get the sides to flow nicely and cut 12" out of the height.
Really am pleased with the final shape and proportions. ;D

Nice -& as you say, no-one will look at it & immediately identify it.

Presumably the penny is from your birth date !!!!   see Andy, that's why he has such wealth of experience, its been gained over 98 years ;D ;D ;D

 ;D ;D ;D

D'oh ! I've been rumbled :D
Slightly better proportioned now.

Good work Dave, as always, cant laugh at it any more  :)

its going to take someone ages to restore that  ;D

yet again you amaze me dave  :o ;D well done sir, no on would ever guess the work you have done. oh and cheers for the hot water/dishwasher powder trike for the carb  ;), dunked one in last night to clean and rebuild.

Cheers guys.
Think it's past restoring. ;D
Hope the carb came out ok Craig.

all clean just waiting on a kit for replacement parts  ;)

Dave, your workshop appears to have more rubbish, I mean irreplaceable spares!! :D :D, than mine, and I would have thought that was impossible! the other day I found a carb. I put "safely" away in 1965! the engine to go with it having long ago disappeared! hmmm......................

 ;D Yep really do need to have a massive clear out.
Pair of side mount headlights have just arrived. Less than £20 including delivery and they arrived within 48 hrs. Ok, so they're not  Lucas P100s but this is a budget build. Not sure where to mount them yet. ::)  (perhaps inside the grill  ;)). But should be easy to change to bottom mount if needed. Depending on where they end up they may get converted to include sidelights

Tractor lights. Cool.

http://vintagetractorspares.com/

Yep   ;D
Hmmm, starting to look a bit 'hot rod'

Looking good Dave :)

That is looking good ;) (In my mind, I'm saying "no, no, he cant have got that far already? I'm still sketching out on the fag packet")

Annoying isn't it!
You'll be ready to race at the Prescott hill climb this year at this rate Dave.

I wish !
I started stripping the old body off 6 months ago, so I'm not exactly progressing very fast. Still a long, long way to go.
But at least the lights work.

What! I've been building mine for 5 or 6 years & haven't got working lights at the moment!

To be fair Manky - you have HAD working lights.......   

Yeah, but his are working now & I'm jealous.  :(

Think it may be nearer 8 years but who's counting  ;)
 I was only checking the bulbs worked. Lights are now packed away in a growing pile of parts boxes. Bits are bought when a good deal comes up rather than to any build schedule. Keeping costs to a minimum.

Think it may be nearer 8 years but who's counting   >:(

Considering going for a scuttle /firewall mounted fuel tank  :-\
Worked out that I have room for a 5 gallon tank mounted on the top of the scuttle. This would mean that a fuel pump would not be needed though a fuel tap might be a good idea. Foam filled for safety obviously and to stop sloshing.
Apart from it being a pig to make, putting extra weight over the front axle, a raising the C.of G. slightly. Are there any other reasons why this is another dumb idea ?

Ford did it with the Model A . My old man showed me the scars on his hands from pulling burning wiring out from underneath his Model A dash one night but could just as easily happen with a rear mounted tank.

I'm using both on my "3" Olds, 11/2 gallon cylindrical S/S tank on the scuttle, gravity feed, and another vertically mounted cylindrical M/S tank at the rear, with fuel pump,both converted extinguishers,  why you may ask? no idea, but seemed like a good idea at the time! ;D ;D, as an aside, one of my earliest cars, a '32 Austin 7, had a scuttle mounted gravity feed tank, for whatever relevance that may be! ??? ??? ??? ??? ???..Morrag

More thinking required on the tank I think.
While waiting for the sheets of aluminium to arrive, I thought it best to finish off the tail section. The modified bonnet was a bit short and had the wrong profile for behind the seats. Tried to infill using a single piece but it did not go well. :( Second attempt using two long sections and a small centre section worked .
Front  is welded to 8mm dia rod to give a safe and neat edge. Centre section still to be welded in. Getting fed up of compound curves. Luckily the rest of the bodywork curves mostly in single planes except for some of the scuttle area and where the body meets the tail section plus some small detail work.

lol!!!!!

Actual progress has been non existent due to having a few small styling issues.
The radiator is pushing the grill shell a couple of inches further forward than I would like, so I am contemplating side mounting it. The steering box is really messing up the shape of the front frame cover on the RH side. It sits on top of the side rail quite close to the front, meaning the covers will have to be quite tall with a rounded front, tapering back towards the firewall (a bit like the root profile of a wing). Will get it mocked out in cardboard before cutting any aluminium.

Not making a front cover panel ahead of the grille Dave? -like Adey Smith's Pendine special at Buckland automotive, (one of the guys we went to Holland with).

Yep, that's the sort of thing. But I was planning on dropping the top of the centre down to follow the bottom of the rad. Not sure about that though.

Other vehicles are holding up this project but had time today to make the former for the front frame covers. Cut from 19mm ply with radiused top/front edges. For making just two panels ply should be ok. The short piece is a clamping block to keep the aluminium flat while knocking over the tighter curve at the front.
At some point I am going to have to make some louver formers. Well actually a lot of formers as I want graduated louvers for the tapered bonnet side and top panels.

You know if you build a louvre press, Loony's gonna want to louvre everything don't you Dave?!

 :D
Not planning on making a press. Just a series of hardwood formers to do them by hand.

A productive morning  :)
Got my daughters car MOT done and still managed to get the front, frame cover sides made.

Had some difficulty with distortion while doing the 1" wide flanges at the front, but got there in the end. :D

.

That's a big thumbs up.  :)
Nicely done Dave.

Very nice Dave
Very nice indeed

 :D
Sometimes hard tasks are quick and other times the easy ones take for ever. As mentioned earlier, I want a rolled front cover panel but with the top section dropped, to follow the shape of the rad grill. Sounds easy and in a way it was, just took ages to map the shape out on the flat sheet of aluminium, cut it out then bend to shape. I haven't even finished the infill panel but I've had enough for today.

Looks really nice though Dave. Id've rolled it first then spent ages trimming it away bit by bit cos I wouldn't be able to map it out in advance. Are you riveting it to the side pieces or do they all need to be removable separately?

Nice work Dave.

Thanks.
Will be riveted together. If I get it right it should possible to lift the side covers over the dampers (cut outs in the sides) and steering arm spindle, then just remove it all forwards.

That's looking really good Dave 

as we say over here"thats class"  8)

Cheers.
Infill section done and managed to get it to fit, first time.  Fast becoming a fan of sheet aluminium, as it's so much easier to bend, stretch and shrink.
Temporarily held in place by 4 pop rivets.

That's worked out well Dave.

That's really tidy!

Like an artist working his canvas, it's great to see the picture forming. Top work Dave.

I don't like you, I don't mean it Dave, I enjoy watching it all come together and all in a shed, who would have thought it :)

 :-[ Thanks folks. Nice to know people are interested.

Hey Dave, I'm almost ready to skin my "3", any chance of you coming down here for your holidays!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

great work, big respect.

 :)
Top sections done. Steering column will cause some agro with the RH bonnet side but nothing like the exhaust and carbs  on the other side.
With some off cuts, had a go at louvre forming. I intended to make formers varying in width from 50mm up to 200mm in 10mm increments (lots and lots of formers) but found I could get reasonable results just using a shaped chisel made from an old flat file.

Can you explain just how you created those Dave?

Is there nothing you cant do  :) I must admit I do like your work, you have a real talent 

 :)
The sheet is held tightly between two bits of angle (flats on top) and using a flat chisel (like a woodworking one but rounded at the end) held against the top of one of the angle pieces, and carefully hammered, the sheet is cut and formed at the same time.
Took a bit of practice. The sheet I'm using is 1.2mm and needs to be annealed to stop it tearing at the ends. Any ripples in the louvre can be dressed out but only before you cut the next one.
Simples  ;D

Thats very clever thinking, I spent ages making a die for fly pressing, could do 18swg steel, left it out one night, never to be seen again >:(

Dave, Is that just local annealing to the area to be louvred,or the whole piece?, and what's your prefered method? Regards Morrag

Just the louvre area. The bonnet is going to be 1.2 meters long so annealing the whole sheet is not practical or even wanted.
I started by using bar soap as an indicator, but now just use a propane torch moving it slowly over the area that I need to work on. There seems to be two trains of thought,  to quench or not. When doing the side blisters I tried both ways and frankly, noticed no difference, so I let it air cool.

Cheers Dave, I'll go with that......Morrag

Another way is a bit of soft wood, large splinter,  it writes in black when temp. is right. And you should let aluminum air cool.

Cheers for that as well! ,Morrag

Added a small 'refinement' to the process. A shaped bit of wood, clamped to the back angle, to dress the louvre against after cutting.
Gives a much neater finish. :)
Just worked out there should be about 150 graduated louvres in the bonnet. That's 150 chances to mess up. :-\

Rather than make an elongated blister to cover the carb bell mouths, I decided to make a long air intake to fit to the side of the bonnet.
The rolled front edge was the most awkward part as it involves shrinking the sheet aluminium quite a bit. Still need to trim the edges slightly.

Ooh, isn't that pretty. Is the rolled edge purely a matter of lots of patient hammering Dave, or is there heat involved?

Olds, you really need to make some videos to show how you do this stuff - us mere short patienced mortals can only wonder at how easy you make this stuff look.
Hats off

Everything I do seems to involve heat and hammering. This was no exception. The front edge was knocked over a former (a lathe, tailstock hand wheel  ;) ) 90 degrees, then hammered inwards over a  stake. Think I heated it three times to stop it from buckling. I expect an experienced metal worker wouldn't have needed to but it works for me.

Started on the tedious job of making panel templates. Damn, that bonnet is long. Managed at last to find someone willing to post 1250mm long sheet aluminium at a reasonable price. while I quite like the body to be made of riveted together panels, I want the  bonnet panels to be in seamless sections. Think I may make a slightly bigger, much longer, air intake as I'm not sure I like the proportions. :-\

Could the air intake be set a little further back as it's very close to the cutout for the exhaust - looks a little crowded?

Unfortunately not enough BG. That is why I'm thinking of making a longer one. Would take the inlet almost to the front of the bonnet  and the tail end back  further. Then it should look more part of the bonnet side than something stuck on.

just amazing work. looks great.

I like the long bonnet look Dave & agree about extending the intake down it's full length.
Looking superb. Origami specials are the future! -in recycled paper obviously.

;D
The bits of masking tape are obviously temporary, until I can get some structural duct tape.  :D
Spent ages looking for large sheets of suitable, stiff card to make cutting templates, All I found was art board which was expensive. So I'm making do, with heavy wall lining paper.
Not as easy to use but at least it's cheap.

Yeah, I've got a roll of that at Loony's workshop. Suprisingly useful.

Thanks Brock for the card. It will come in very useful.
Had a productive morning. Got the rear bonnet support flange made. Made from 20 x 15 angle, this has to follow the profile of the scuttle hoop but be 5mm smaller all round.
Because this needs to be fitted after the body is skinned it will be temporarily screwed to the hoop and riveted in place later.

Easiest way of getting the angle to curve for the top corners.

Bonnet top panels cut out and I've started the louvres. Decided to cut down on the number of louvres to 30 per panel (two tops and one side)
but it's still a slow process.
I'm just popping out (to the garage) and may be some time.  :)

Has anyone ever mentioned how ridiculously talented you are! :D :D

 ;D
None of it's real. All done with smoke and mirrors.
Certainly no talent when it comes to paint (unlike some) I'm lucky if it actually sticks where it's supposed to.

this is just getting better an better.

 :)
One bonnet top done. Sits quite well even without stiffeners or hinges and so far I'm pleased with the look. It's 1.2mm thick aluminium so is fairly stiff and was a pain getting the tapered roll over even.

That is absolutely beautiful!

I will second that BG, bet you are well chuffed Dave.

You are truly talented, that is an excellent piece of workmanship

I'll third, fantastic

Thanks folks.
Yep quite pleased. It's not perfect, but is better than I hoped. My right hand/wrist is getting painful so may have to take a break from this or at least strap it up before continuing.

That's crap that is,It's full of holes  ;D






Only kidding of course,Very professional looking job olds.

;D   More holes added.

" Patience of a Saint"  ;)

more patience than me!!!!!

great work.

Not much patience today! Three attempts at getting one small panel done and I'm still not happy, so went for a ride instead.
It covers the steering column, where it cuts through the side panel and the top of the frame cover. Looks simple. May try again when I'm in a better frame of mind.

With the bike out of the way had a chance to get an overall pic. Gives some idea of where I'm heading with this.

Ooh, nice. What's wrong with the panel Dave? Looks fine to me.

Dave that is spiffing

The mounting flange ended up a bit narrow at the back. :(
It appears to be such a simple shape but isn't.
I like the term "spiffing" Scannerzer. Trying for an early 30s look. The 17" wheels are bit small but there is not a lot I can do about that, unless I can find some wire wheel centres. 6 stud 4"pcd.

Front RH lower side panel, louvred, beaded and shaped.

Nice. Very nice.

spiffing doesn't do it justice, that looks like it was made by the hands of a master craftsman 

Thanks guys. It's not perfect Merv, but it's not bad for shed work.

The LH lower side is going to be in two parts, because of the exhaust manifold and to allow easy access to the bottom of the carbs.
Front section with exhaust cut outs.
Starting to think that for a home built special, this car might actually look ok.

I'm actually begining to think this car will look fantastic. 8)

Well done.

For me it's not just that it was shed built, it's the short time it's taken.

Well just get on with it Dave, as you still have my 3 Wheeler to "do" when you come down here on your holidays!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Thanks hunter.
Not such a short time really. I started this in August and apart from repositioning the engine, the chassis repairs  and making the exhaust manifold, hardly anything to the base vehicle has been done. If I can get the body finished by the end of the summer than I can get on with the mechanicals over winter.
Think you will have to make do without me morrag. I don't do holidays. ;D
Rear section done. Not overly happy with the bottom swage line but it will do. Not looking forward to doing this along the bottom of the main tub. Will have to experiment with formers.

Spent some time playing Tetrus with panel templates, to make the most out of each sheet of aluminium. Looks like if I am really, really,careful and don't mess up a panel, I should just have enough sheet in stock to make a pair of bomber seats. :D
How hard can it be ? :-\
If I go ahead I will put up a separate thread.

What next machineguns. ;D

That would be silly.
Well perhaps a scuttle mounted Vickers for the navigator. ;D ;D ;D

"How hard can it be ?"

You will make it look easy. If I tried there would be a lot of swearing and a heap of twisted ally in the corner.

 :-\ You have more faith in my abilities than I do. :-[
Think I may be setting myself up for a fall on this idea.

Bit of turning. Turned (pun) out to be awkward. Rivet setting anvil. Didn't have one for some large rivets I will be using, so decided to make one to match. Took four attempts before I managed to get the profile just right.
Work on the car will now have to go on hold for a little while, as I have another project, with a deadline that must be met.

Ooh, curious!

Known as a rivet "snap" in this part of the world Mr. M, and allows you to have matching 'heads' to your rivets, very common at one time before 'PoP' rivets became almost universal. Morrag

There is also the "set" which is just a tool with a hole the size of the shank, to pull the head in tight. Set and snap.

Rivet set/snap and anvil. The anvil will be mounted into a heavy block of steel and it's purpose is to stop the head of the rivet being deformed and to support the work piece while using the snap. It has to be as close to the profile of the rivet head as possible

At last managed to find some time to do a bit more. Not a lot to show though. Some more welding to the body frame ( more grinding to do ) and, fed up of losing tools down between the floor and gearbox I got around to making the gearbox cover. May have to increase the clearance around the gear change slightly, but as I'm not planning on fitting a gaiter, I will leave it as small as possible.

That's very neat Dave.

 :-\ Yep it's neat, light, functional and boring. That could change though. ;)

You could say there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

Nice work as always.

 :)
Not really necessary, think this is more in keeping with the general look of the vehicle.
Although these are pop rivets, the steel pins were removed, turning them into tubular rivets, to allow them to be hammered flat on the underside.
 

Nice!

 :)
Because the skin is going to be aluminium, all mounts for windscreens, mirrors, lights (spare wheel ?) etc. have to be welded to the body frame before skinning.
Screen mounts done today. These also act as bracing between the scuttle hoop and the body tube. Bound to forget something.

nice work. gives me some ideas. :D

First of the body panels. front left. This has taken all day to do due to the fact that it curves both front to back and top to bottom (compound) and I don't have an English wheel. Lots of heating, stretching and shrinking. With a bit of luck the rest should be a bit easier now I have some idea of what to do. Going to have to get some more propane !
I want to get most of the panel beating done before painting the body frame. Hopefully I can get to the stage where the panels almost slip on to the frame.

If I can get all panels done so that no filler is needed, I will be a very happy bunny. :)

if mine ends up half as good i'll be happy.

I'd be happy if I could get panels to fit that well when I'm welding them together.
Can't see any signs of heat colouring Dave -are you buffing the ali' after you've worked it?

No buffing but a light rub over with a scrub pad. Mainly to remove finger prints. Ally doesn't discolour with heat, like steel does.

I didn't know that.

if you heat ally enough yo discolour it it ends up in a puddle

Who needs programs like American Hot Rod when we have our very own Boyd Coddington on here ;D  Wonderful work as usual Dave, keep it coming ;)

Thanks, I think. :-[ I'm certainly no Boyd (though the Coddington workshop would be nice). Just having a bit of fun in the garage.  :)
Pretty sure that there will be a lot of folk who won't like the car for various reasons,  it's not a traditional hot rod, racer, replica, or whatever, but I don't care. ;D

I like it already, purely for it's attention to detail & old school methods.

^^^ x2

make that x3

 Thanks guys. Wasn't folk on this forum I was thinking about, but the public in general and the flat cap brigade in particular. :D
Thought I'd take some pics as I went along this time (this is where it all goes horribly wrong).

Edges annealed and the roll over started. This is as far as I can go just using my hands. The edge has to stretch a lot so will be done HOT once the panel is temporarily riveted in place. The alternative is to cut a series of slits in the edge but I prefer not to do that.

Hot forming the rolled edge. This took about 2 hours with repeated local re-heating, doing a small section at a time as the heat dissipates quickly, but I think the result is worth the effort.

Hammering in the bottom swage line. Tool is steel rod in a short length fuel hose.

Front edge knocked over and it's done.

It really is metal sculpting isn't it. Seems so simple!  :)

nice work, how would you like a hoilday in norn iron restoring a landy  ;D

I only do simple. They are not perfect, but are good enough. :D Just glad that I'm not trying to do this in steel. ;)

Let me think about this, I've though about this, NO !  :D
This is the last one I did. 1984 V8 SW

very nice,hope mine looks half as good

When I sold, it was bought by a dealer in Holland.
Slow but steady progress. Near side scuttle top done.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

That is looking really good Dave, you must be pleased with it

Starting to look like it was factory built.

Thanks.
Yep, I'm quite pleased with it so far. It's OK for a first attempt, and is turning out better than I dared hope.
Just messed up the offside scuttle top, so will have to start that again.
It's not supposed to look factory !  :(  I must try harder.  ;D

When i say factory i mean the standard of work.

I'd like to think you've got a big heap of scrap panels that you don't show us, but somehow I suspect not.  >:(

It's all down to poor lighting and a cheap camera I assure you.

Well, there's the one from this evening.

That makes me feel slightly less useless about my own efforts!  :)

There's nowt wrong with the stuff you make Andy

Thought I'd ruined the scuttle top while rolling over the edge. Put a big crease in it by going to fast. Took a while but I eventually managed to dress the crease out.
I love this aluminium stuff,. It's so easy to work with.

nice save.

Just had a special delivery from Canada. Four sets of long lever, quick release, clamps/buckles.
Originally designed as closing clamps, for heavy haulage horse collars, they will make great buckles for the bonnet straps.

Oh Yus !!  Very nice, they will look good  8) 8) 8)

I like them

very nice.

Trying to find 'alternative' rather than the norm. Originally saw one on an antique, dray horse collar. Only place I could find them in UK was attached to belts sold by Orvis at £115 each.  :o  Eventually found a guy in Canada willing to post them at a reasonable price. May get some more shipped over as they make a really cool belt.
They had been polished but have aged rather nicely.

Nearside rear cockpit panel in place. So far this has been the hardest to get right due to all the different directions it has to curve. Will need to make some 'adjustment' to the panel gap between cockpit and tail section but all in all its not bad.
The leather for the straps has arrived and though they will not be needed for a long time, I'm fed up of panel bashing at the moment, so may start on these next.

Beautifully done as always Dave.

Cheers.
First bonnet strap. Leather was light tan and looked hideous, so has been stained and waxed. Couldn't find any strap staples (guides) that I liked, so I'm making them. Think the clamps/buckles, are perfect for the look I'm after.
Now I know what to do,  the rest should be much quicker to make.

I know its been said before and I am repeating it, but not one person should have this much talent.
I do like what you do Dave  :)

Not sure about the strap staple Dave ??? They look a bit modern compared to the beautiful buckles, if they looked like the bit of the buckle that goes through the strap, then they would match............. See we cant blow sunshine up the old jacksie all the time ;D ;D ;D

I think they look gorgeous.
I've just paid 30 quid to have 2 loops stitched in a leather strap for my motorcycle -should've come & seen you Dave!

 ;D

I agree, would prefer the hoop to be larger in diameter and overall a more sculpted look, but this is with materials to hand. The fact that I will be making at least 16 of these means they have to be fairly simple to replicate and I don't have casting facilities.

Constructive criticism is as welcome as 'sunshine' ;D

I googled 'Footman Loops'

(http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo343/PDSheridan/Footman%20loops_zpsnnpp9qr4.jpg) (http://s390.photobucket.com/user/PDSheridan/media/Footman%20loops_zpsnnpp9qr4.jpg.html)

Thanks.
I'd found the same ones at Vintage Car Parts, But they were £3.48 each ! May not seem much but it adds up when you need a lot.
We have an old fashioned hardware store near us, that stocks a lot of brass fittings. Might see what they can do.

I didn't know that's what they're called, but I've got 2 on my welding trolley.

uhm! horse drawn welding trolley :o :o different :D :D

I think they're fine and after all, once the build is finished and on the road you can always change anything that bugs you - and if it doesn't - don't!

Wise words Bobbi!

True, except unlike steel, once you drill holes in aluminium bodywork, it's not easy to get rid of them.  :)

Yep, though the term 'footman loop' seems to be going out of use. Think it comes from when a footman would use straps to hold down luggage. Didn't you have them on the XS battery box ? There is also a narrower, taller, 'coachman loop' that looks like a pipe saddle hoop.

Decided to go with the hand made guides (because they are different) but will need cast staples at the ends (and possibly for the tensioners) for their greater strength.

more rivits!

"Pipe saddle hoop"?
Yup,got them on my bike & also on the fuel tank of my Pop.

Sorry, poor description I know. A hoop of metal used to secure pipes to walls etc.
This is a coachman loop.

Known as school or classroom clips in pipe fitters circles. I have a few 2" clips left from a job.

we used them to attach rigging to yatch masts. we called them "potterheigham bridges" due to the fact they looked like it and we were on the norfolk broads!!!!

Used in classic cars for door check straps. I used them on my A to provide load tie downs when screwed into the steel bed edges.

True, except unlike steel, once you drill holes in aluminium bodywork, it's not easy to get rid of them.  :)


i got this to repair some damage on the landy body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyglwkZcCU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyglwkZcCU)

Let us know how you get on with this. There are certainly areas that I could use this on. Think Land Rover panels are made from NS4 alloy which is supposedly easier to gas weld anyway.

tried it on some scrap using a mapp gas torch and it worked very well and i rushed it,i had to move it back and forth aggerssively to break it apart but i didn't tin it first so think it may not have broken at all if i had tinned it

Dragged the speedster out of the garage for the first time today, so I could get some decent pics.

Sitting a little low at the back. First time I've seen it on the flat, as the garage floor slopes, but I need to rebuild the springs anyway.

.

in all fairness that looks fantastic

Thanks.
 The dog leg panel joint between the tail section and the body may look slightly odd, but there is a reason it's that shape.

Nice one ;)  what is the plan for the exhaust pipe Dave?

At the moment I'm not sure. My original design had a Brooklands can, just before the rear wheel, with the pipe exiting quite high up, but that seems too obvious.
Leaning toward a low mounted, Brooklands style can where the exit pipe is actually goes under the chassis rail and axle, finishing in a horizontal fish tail.
Something like this (wish I'd remembered this car earlier, it's gorgeous).
Notice at no point did I mention a silencer. ;)

looks great outside.

Nice Dave. Very, very nice.

WOW, What some great workmanship, looks stunning

Thanks. As usual for these things it looks better in the pics than reality. Still quite chuffed though. It's difficult to know what it really looks like, while stuck in the garage.
Rest of the leather for the bonnet straps arrived yesterday ( I'd underestimated how much would be needed  :-[). So a morning of sewing and the straps are done.
Looks like horse harness.
Wonder if it will be enough to restrain all that wild horsepower the A series engine will make.  ;D

Even in reality it probably looks much better than you think it does - cos you KNOW where the imperfections are, but anyone looking at it sees the general picture - which is great!


None the worse for that!

excellent workmanship dave

Cheers.
Spurred on by watching Mr Monkey slaving away today and being ashamed to admit to him that I'd not done much recently, I got around to filling two of the four big holes left by the Morris bonnet hinges. Also made and fitted the last of the cockpit perimeter supports (with holes). Yes, it is slightly bent, it's supposed to be. All the framework sections curve in one direction or another.  Some in a multitude of directions.

 :D

Just been going through what need doing, before lifting the body frame off for finishing and paint. One last body panel, two bonnet sides, the dash panel and the closing panel behind the seats. I'm awaiting steel for the last one. Because of its shape, it will add a lot of strength to the structure.

some how i don't think anyone could complain about your work rate on this one Dave

 :D
Well The wife complains all the time ! ;D
Been looking at SU ram pipes and on the new ones, the gauze seems so coarse and at the same time restrictive that I decided to make my own.
Did some more metal spinning and this time managed to make a pair of very near identical, bell mouths. Hope to get the mounting flanges done tomorrow.

Damn, is there nothing you can't make Dave?!

cakes?

My chocolate sponge cake is to die for. ;D

Send some up to Hertfordshire then  :P :P

One done one to do. But I think I've made the overall diameter too big and it might cause problems with the bonnet.  :-\

Oh shut up  :) , I'm sure you will sort it out

:'(
 Too big! Started again.  The bottom edge will still be a bit close to the bottom of the air intake bulge but should clear.

See, you did sort it :)

Yep  ;D Took most of the day though. Should have thought it through to start off with.  ::)

The steel arrived for the rear firewall yesterday and I was making good progress until I ran out of welding wire.
Might have looked better if the dimples were graduated, but that would have meant making three sizes of formers.

* 100_3559.JPG (98.56 KB, 533x400 - viewed 36 times.)
Tea bags from now on then!
I'm curious how you attached the flanges to the sum tubes?

I assume you mean the SU ram tubes.
The flange bores were chamfered each side.  One to match the tube taper and the other  side a 45 deg. x 3mm and the tube end was swaged into this chamfer.

Started stripping down the body so that I can finish some welding and paint the body frame and thought I'd see how much things weighed.
The steel rear section (boat tail) is a bit heavy at 16kg but the alloy body panels only total 5kg and the bonnet and front sections another 8kg.
Don't know what the body frame weighs, but taking axle weights with everything fitted so far and allowing for fuel, battery and all the bits still to be fitted, I think the vehicle should weigh roughly 1188 lbs. (540 kg). A Morris 8 = 1738 lbs.  So should be 550 lbs. lighter ;D

Wow!

Best bit is, combined with the engine change, the power goes from 39 to about 111 BHP/Ton. Not massive, but a decent improvement. ;D

recon mine will weigh more!!!! ::)

Ya think !  ::)    :D
Well you did start off with a vehicle with a kerb weight of over 3000 lbs. ;D

The 1100 Morris/MG engine hardly make this a hotrod, but with skinny crossplys, ox cart suspension and turn'n'hope steering, it should be quite 'interesting'  ;D

i think my new body already weighs more than the landrover original!!! and its not finished yet!!!

love it ;D

Got the body frame off, for final welding and paint. A little awkward on my own but at least it's not heavy. It's surprisingly rigid, despite not being bolted to the chassis. Weighs 21 kg which is slightly heavier than I would have liked, but lighter than expected !  The front frame 'horns' will now be cut off and welded to the firewall/ foot well section instead.

looks neat.

Beautifully done Dave.

Thanks.
Looks like the car may end up green after all. Rummaging around looking for primer (that I never did find), I came across two unopened 5 litre cans of Land Rover  'Deep Bronze Green'. Or at least that's what I think they are as the labels have come off. Were sent in error when I bought paint for my last 110.

Frame is finished (sort of ) and painted. Back is painted in textured truck bed coating, as this is the front of the boot. Reason for getting it painted, is that it will now have to be stored outside, until the mechanicals have been done and I'm ready for assembly.
More than a few hours of work in this frame but luckily all I had to buy was the sheet steel for the back. The rest of the steel I had in stock.
A while ago, I mentioned that I had to remember to weld on dashboard mounts, before paint. Well, they are sitting on the desk in front of me ! D'oh !

oops. does look good though.

 ;D
Same black bed liner paint I used on my Pop? Good stuff with a nice finish but about 10 quid a can, (from Halfords).

Yep, that's the stuff Andy. Had to clean the nozzle a couple of times. Probably my fault in not shaking the can enough. Would have preferred it to be grey in colour but black was all I could get at the time. Not planning on having any interior panels unless the car ends up having to go through IVA (or whatever), so some of the frame will be visible and subjected to knocks and scuffs. These areas have now had another three coats of clear sprayed on.
I keep telling myself, this is supposed look like, a thrown together, home built special of the 30s (sort of) and not to spend so much time on it.
Started filling in all the extra holes (there are lots of them) that were drilled into the chassis to mount the GRP body etc. Using a bit of brass as a backstop and the MIG turned up high, means that I get good weld penetration and only have to dress one side, instead of the weld pool dripping down.

Had one of those days I should have stayed in bed.
Within minutes of going into the garage, I'd knocked over an open can of black paint.
 This went all over the floor and chassis of the speedster and ran down into a large box of nuts and bolts, stored underneath.
While cutting out the dash panel, I broke the last jigsaw blade.
 Had to finish by using the angle grinder, which grabbed the ally and put a big score across the front face. So what was to be the rear stiffener is now the front.
At the moment the panels are just bonded together, but there are 40 copper rivets to go around the perimeter.
One good thing is, the cheap front leaf springs bought on ebay, arrived and are in excellent condition, which saves me having to rebuild the old ones.

Everyone has days like that!   :-\

So you are normal then , tomorrow is another day

Yep I am normal (I think) though the wife says otherwise. I mean, what's unusual about having a body frame in the lounge (It's raining outside and she's in Japan  ;D)
Not done much today, but did find time to make a period style, electrics panel for the dash. Once I know the bezel size of the warning lights, I will etch the background design and legends.

Very tidy panel.

Thanks.
Still waiting for the three warning lamps, but it looks a little less plain now.

Now that looks good, you would think you bought it

We need another category on the home page Andy ........ Headed    ' Elite Builds'   and this one should be at the top. Great design work Dave 8)

Simply lovely :)

 :-[ :-[ :-[
Thanks folks.

Olds.You certainly are switched on. ;)

I think Dave ought to make a video of how he makes these etched panels , any body else agree with me  :)

Tis magic. Magic I tell 'e.

Argh, tis all true.
But if I did a video, everyone would realise it's not difficult. Next time I will do in progress pics (and make it look really hard to do).
Started riveting the two layers of dashboard. Copper rivets are cut down, large roofing clout nails, that have had the heads turned to size in the lathe. Slightly tedious job, but the heads were a bit big and far from circular.

Today went well. Finished the riveting, welded on the dash mounting tabs, modified some warning lamps and did the cut out for the ammeter/switch panel.
Not fully decided on speedo or rev counter positions yet.
Will have to remount the frame on the chassis to check steering column hole position.

Fair play Dave, you really do turn out good work

Thanks. :D The engine turning on the dash took a while but I think it was worth it. Not quite as crisp as I would have liked though.

Ooh, Mr Olds, you do make some pretty things.

Thank you kind sir.
Starter panel. Inspired by a 1920's Bosch magneto switch.  Needs a little more work and a vintage style lever choke.

Dat's nice too.

Number eight being the 8th build you have done? or meaning something else?

Has two meanings, first, the car is based on a Morris Eight and second, yep you guessed it, this is my eighth build/restoration, though only the second OLDS. ;)

That is very nice Dave

 ;D
I have joined MM in the land of dust. Yep filling and sanding. Not going to do any filling on the ally panels and I hate using filler, but the rear needs it, to cover the welding where I had to add three inches to lengthen and reshape it. Luckily building a car that's supposed to look like an eighty year old special means I don't have to worry about getting it perfect. Probably about 4 hours work.

Not 4 weeks like mine then.  :(

Nope. Just about finished.  But then it's not a whole car like yours and no fiddly areas.

Just spent 2 hours reading this thread.. 8) cool.

Thank you Mr Stinkey. I know it's been a wet day, but I'm surprised anyone would want to spend that much time reading this. :)

Had to remount the body frame, to work out the position of the hole in the dash, for the steering column. With the amount of work involved in making this dash, there was lots of measuring ( and re measuring ) then a heart in mouth few minutes, while cutting the hole. Followed by a huge whoop of joy when it fitted perfectly. ;D
I also found a chrome pull and twist, T handle choke cable, that I think looks right but I am still pondering a twist lever system. :-\

Lovely work Mr Olds.

wow, looks great.

Seeing has it was raining and I'm not able to do much in the mornings I thought I'd check out fellow monkeys work..one can always pick up ideas and learn..well done sir

 ;D
A bad back has prevented much progress, but I have refurbished the front springs. Though truth be told not a lot was required, as these were bought on Ebay at a ridiculously low price and were in near new condition.  All traced of grease dirt etc. was washed off with white spirit and a wire brush. They were then repainted and once dry, warmed then soaked in near boiling Waxoyl, making sure it penetrated fully, between the leaves and leaving a nice coating all over. A bit like how we used to do bike chains.
I know there are lots of opinions on lubricating leaf springs,  all I can say is, this works for me.
Unless I am extremely lucky and find a similar condition rear set of springs, the ones fitted will need to be completely stripped and rebuilt.

lovely work dave ..

Thanks.
Have spent a lot of time looking through Morris, BMC, BL and MG part numbers and info, trying to find the correct silent-bloc and rubber bushes to fit the rear springs. Seems that some MG T series used the same ones. Makes life easier and cheaper. £16 for a complete rebuild kit.
Started on the front steering components. Trying to do this methodically, so as parts are removed, they are stripped, cleaned, checked and repainted.
With pics taken for reference later.

I do like working on really old cars. Everything is so simple. Three spanners and a hammer and the whole of the front suspension / axle are out and ready for stripping. This also means that I can easily paint the front section of the chassis.
Not sure how well this thing would have handled as I found the castor wedges (between the axle and spring) were fitted the wrong way round. ???

New bushes for the front of the front springs have arrived. A few minutes on the lathe and I have a simple removal/instalation tool.
The original plain phos-bronze bushes were supposed to be greased every 500 miles (as if that's ever going to happen) so thought I'd try Oilite bushes instead. They should help the pins last longer and at £6 a pair even if I have to replace them every year it's no big deal.
While deciding what to do with the old springs I realised one was longer than the other. It had sagged so much that there was a spring height difference of over an inch.

Lucky I found replacements for these.

'Oilite' is ok provided you do not have to ream them to final size, as no doubt you are aware, Dave, as reaming them closes up the surface of the bush, and they don't stand up to shock loads as well as Phosphor Bronze, Morrag

Agreed Morrag. They went in ok with a nice running fit. I will leave the grease nipples in the pins and if wear is excessive, then I can easily go back to phos bronze.
What I didn't realise was, Oilite was originaly developed by the Chrysler Corperation in 1930, for this very application and it became one of their biggest earners.

Well, there you go! I certainly didn't realise that, interesting............

Separated the axle beam from the stub axles and found that it has had new kingpins and bearings fitted, so that's one job I don't have to worry about. :D Also, because of the way the front wheels spun so smoothly, I think there may be new wheel bearings as well.
So far, so good.  ;D
Not a bad looking axle. If anyone is after a drop axle for a light weight rod, one like this, might be worth considering.

That's nice in't it.

Not a lot of use for those weird folk, who insist on using a ridiculous transverse leaf spring though. ;D

Taking advantage of the fine weather, I brush painted the firewall using silver hammerite smooth. Bloody awful stuff to use on panels. Too thick and it sags, too thin, there are horrendous brush marks and it's four hours between coats. Found that adding a very small amount of white spirit for the top coat and I could get a reasonable, 'brushed aluminium' finish.

are you going to drill some lightness into that axle ? It's begging for lightness I can hear it,honestly 8)

Well brush strokes make it look correct then ? That looks rather like a very posh dog kennel ? You could sell some of those I'm sure dave ?

I had a go at spraying smooth Hammerite a few years ago, once I got the thinning ratio right the results were not at all bad, although I was only using it in places that were not in full view. The big problem was cleaning the gun out, flushing the thinners through only removed the surface of any build up in the gun body, it ended up in a full strip down and pick the bits out with a small awl...... took me longer to do that than it did to do all the painting :-\

You defo have a good finish there Dave, what paint are you going to use on the chassis?

Halfords gloss black brushing paint.
I haven't got room to completely strip the chassis in one go, so starting at the front and working back.
Wire wheeling old paint, rust and crud off. A wash with Hammerite Kurust followed by red oxide primer then two good coats of black. Folk dismiss Halfords stuff but I've found their Gloss Black gives a great finish and is tough. The underneath will have a coat of stone chip added.
Box sections will be internally coated with Waxoil once chassis painting is finished.

Not a lot of use for those weird folk, who insist on using a ridiculous transverse leaf spring though.

-it's the way forward Dave!
I bought some very expensive enamel chassis paint from the 'net for my Pop, but not impressed with it. Might give the Halfords stuff a try. Preparation's always the key & the Pop's a bugger to even get a wire brush into to clean the chassis.
Nice kennel.

Finish is not perfect, there will always be some brush marks and I'm certainly not going to skim and sand the chassis, but it does give a very glossy finish. Makes it hard to get a good pic. None of it will be on view unless peoples want to crawl underneath. It's mainly for corrosion protection.

Busy morning.
Stripping down one of the front hubs/brakes. As I had suspected the wheel bearings have been replaced but slightly surprised to find no brake shoes, two of the wheel studs are missing and the drum looked like it had spent the last twenty years, in the sea. The drum has cleaned up well with no obvious wear and is in the oven having the VHT paint baked. Surprisingly the brake cylinder bolts and even the bleed nipple came out easily. At the moment this is in a jar of white spirit and I'm hopeful that it can be either reused, or kept as a spare
In the parts I have accumulated, I have two new wheel cylinders, brake shoes with new springs and even some wheel studs, so I should be ok for bits.
 And it's not even 08.00 yet

what about springs etc?

Yep, think I've got it all, at least for one axle.

not had the drums of mine yet!!!! but know i need a wheel bearing(bought already)

Spoke too soon ! I have been keeping some of the parts (mainly old stuff I probably wont use) in a shed. Today I can't find the box of new brake shoes, springs and wheel cylinder rebuild kits. Thought I must have mislaid it then realised the boxes with the lucas horns and the sidelights are also missing.  :o  I have turned the place upside down but no joy. :'(
I am not suggesting that these parts may have been stolen of course. Yes I am ! Though what good Morris 8 brakes will be to some toe rag I have no idea!  >:( The period Lucas stuff I can sort of understand, there is a market for it.
Luckily the new wheel cylinders (£65 each) and handbrake cables are stored inside with the more expensive or one off parts. And I still have  enough original brake shoes. Going to cost £40 An axle, to get new linings though.
To top it all the new wheel studs are too long, but at least the wheel nuts are correct.

Really Dave?! You've really been broken into?

Yep ! Though broken into is probably the wrong word as I never used to lock this shed. Probably just oppotunistic. Most of the stuff is just old car and bike bits in open crates and the usual junk folk have in sheds. But I box up parts for the build until needed and these would have been near the door. Three fairly small sealed boxes, easy to take. They probably had no idea what was in them.
I's not so much the cost, more the time taken to find these bits.

think you need a lock mr olds!!!! hope you can find replacement parts ok.

i'm a bit too trusting, realy need to upgrade my garage security(open one side with just a tarp across!!!)

The boot & back seat of my daily driver are always full of parts for one project or another. I often think that if it was stolen, the one-off hand made bits & 50 or 60 year old parts would be more of a loss than the car.

Yesterday I felt angry, but it's done and I can't change that. After all it's only stuff. Hardest to replace (at a sensible price) will be the early brass sidelights.
Ho-hum, never mind.

Front springs and axle are back in. I still need to rebuild the other hub, but at least it's some progress.
Apologies for the colour of the brake drum, but it's all I had.

 :D I like it!

Sorry to hear about your bits getting nicked ,is your shed not at your home then ? We've ( well she has ?) got two nutty yappy dogs that blooming ( I'd like to say something else ) bark at everything that comes near the place ,including me ?

It's at home but near a gate and security had been a bit lax of late. Our Labrador is a total dope, unlike our last dog, a giant GSD that used to keep everyone at away, especially the thieves that tried breaking into a neighbours home one night !  ;)

Maybe an electric fence, Dave...operating on 240v ac. of course :D :D :D :D :D

Like the idea Morrag  ;D All locked up now. Not that there's anything left worth taking.
Got some more unseen costs for this build.
The 'new' track rod ends and track rod fitted by a previous owner are wrong and in a big way,
The tapers had been modified to 'fit' by a blind man using an angle grinder.  :o
 Ok I think, luckily no damage to the hubs, just buy new track rod ends. How expensive can they be.... on ebay, close to £80. Found a specialist (Ian Harris) who can do them for £55. Better but still dear.  I then realise that the new track rod has been threaded 9/16", instead of 5/8" to suit the new, wrong ends! Not available anywhere so I will have to make one. To do this i will have to buy a pair of left and right hand thread 5/8" x 20 tpi dies. Not looked into the price for these yet, but I don't suppose they will be cheap. :(
Think I will take a few days off.

That's one reason I stopped working on hot rods/cars..costs/aggravation/time...best to walk away and chill,I never set deadlines either it's meant to be fun :-\

This is the company I always use for engineering supplies, I don't know how it compares to other prices, but the service is good as is the quality and choice.
www.mscdirect.co.uk 

Paul.

Thanks, I will keep them in mind but luckily at the moment I'm OK.
On Saturday I found a pair of new old stock, Morris Oxford rod ends on ebay. I knew they would fit the track rod but was unsure about the taper. At less than £11 inc delivery, thought it was worth the risk. Arrived this morning :o and sure enough the taper was wrong.
With nothing to loose, I set about machining them. Took four attempts to set the taper correctly before attempting to machine the rod ends, and taking it very slowly I now have a pair of rod ends that fit perfectly.
Happy bunny again.  ;D

Well done that man  8) you do know that we will be asking similar things now ?

Should've used an angle grinder like what that other bloke did.

 :D
Couldn't have made a worse job of it !
Other hub is done and fitted. Waiting for some shims to sort out the vertical play.
Also waiting for a pair of wire spoked wheels purchased on ebay. That will make three I have, so still looking for at least one more. Not expecting them to be in great condition, but the main thing is the wheel centres. The rest I can rebuild.
Six stud 4" pcd is rather rare. While this wheel looks good, it's actualy rusted through on he insde of the rim.
 When Morris changed from wire wheels to the later steel 'easyclean' ones, they used the same rim, just not dimpled and drilled, so there is potential to use the rims from later wheels.

Can I ask what size are those rims ? Looking at them I'd say you could use some motorbike rims ? I used to use a shop in Salisbury that do wire wheels..not sure if they are still there ? And buggered if I can remember their name ?

2.5x17, 36 spoke, (12/24) cross one pattern.

There is a guy (James whieldon ?) Classiccarama.com in Salisbury who rebuilds wire wheels,but most likely expensive ? Still can't think of the firm I used ?

 ;) JAMES WHEILDON. Address: Old Brickwood Farm, West Grimstead, Salisbury SP5 3RN Phone: 01722 712701. Fax: 01722 712503
A good mate of mine has built many a wheel for me.

Cheers guys.
I prefer to build my own wheels, but am looking out for rims and spokes.
May give him a call once I have enough wheels.

No no no, this can't be possible. :o
After a year of searching for them, it seems, the wire wheels I bought, have been 'lost' by Yodel.  :'(
How the #### can you lose a pair of vintage car wheels on a 25 mile journey. >:( :'(

Saw your post about this on FaceBook Dave. Incredible. I know they're the opposition, (I work for Royal Mail), but I've yet to hear a good word about them. Fingers crossed they turn up, delivered to the wrong road, in the wrong town.

Guess they rely on PratNavs ?

According to the tracking system, they haven't been delivered anywhere ! ??? Just hoping that they are still in the back of a van somewhere, but that's not likely.

They make us look good.

postman is always good.  :D :P

They make everyone look good. Perhaps they have found, that they make more money from their premium rate, complaints line.
Think I may give up on wire wheels and go for speed discs instead. At least I can make these easily and it would save a lot of bother

So do they compensate you ?

Bought through ebay, so will be able to get back what I paid.

That's not right though..bloody fools..

So where does all this missing stuff go?? I have carbs and exhaust manifold missing for months. Just had a moment! It could be in one of Stinkeys black holes.

Those holes are translucent green and all recycled.. 8)

 :D
Just bought a radiator, that if the dimensions I was given are correct, should fit snugly inside the rad shell. It even has the starting handle hole in the right position in the bottom tank. It's core area must be almost twice that of the Mini rad that came with the car and should be up to the job.

Comes with holes ? Sounds like my sort of radiator..

Well what a great read/build, top work looking forward to more updates. Andy

PS I built an English wheel to help out with the body work, only had one small go with it so far.

Any news on your wheels yet Dave?

Nope  :'(  Yodel won't talk to me, so waiting on the sender to get back to me.
Managed to find one more that should be on it's way.  Not going to hold my breath waiting for any of these to actually turn up.

Due to other problems, I've not managed to make any progress other than shimming the king pins .

Thanks, NS
Always fancied an English wheel, but don't think that I can warrant the cost, or space it would take up.  So all shaping is done using brute force (usually hammers) and ignorance (not a clue what I'm doing). Seems to work for me.

The single wheel turned up complete with tyre. A goodyear deluxe all weather with diamond tread. Don't think I shall be using this as it was made in september 1960. The rim may be salvageable but I doubt it and the spokes certainly aren't but the wheel centre is good.

Feeling fit enough to start working on the car again !
Made a start on the new swan neck gear lever. Even with the remote change on the Morris box, I need a lever thats nearly two foot long. Rather than the usual tapered bent bar, I decided to fabricate something, a little different.  At the gearbox end, it's an I section and as it tapers back, it slowly changes to a T section. Then I threw some holes at it.
Not quite finished, but nearly there.

That's a lovely, lovely thing Dave.

that looks rather smart

very nice.

Thanks folks
. Started off with a length of 30 x 6 flat bar. Beating it into shape was a bit hard (really must get that forge finished) and there is still some smoothing to do, before welding on the selector. Should turn out, pretty close to the sketch from last September. Only taken me a year to make it. :D

blimey, proper pictures!!!! with measurements aswell.

found this on f/b

(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/555ef392553322.jpg)

(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/555ef3925bac12.jpg)

That's tidy. Looks small, so I assume it's an Austin 7.

Given the length off centre, will the weight of the lever not put undue pressure on the selector hubs?  and drop out of 1st and 3rd if you let go of the lever!     

DOH ;D  Scratch that last comment, I already asked the same question earlier on in the thread and you have answered.  Brain ache time sorry :D :D :D

I believe the technical term is 'brain fade'   ;)

Happens to me all the time. :D

No need to appologise as it's a valid point. For anyone who hasn't read  earlier sections of this build.
 The gear box has been modified to give a much shorter throw of the gear lever, which increases the effort required to change gear (or for the lever to drop out of gear), this should be counteracted by the now longer gear lever. As long as the lever doesn't weigh too much, all should be ok.
Surprisingly, it only weighs 0.6kg and due to the shape and profile, most of that weight is at the gearbox end, it's balance point being a third of the way along.
If I do find any problems with the lever dropping, I can always add a balance spring to counter this.

Gear lever fitted and ready for welding and paint. Had to shorten it a little and I added a few more holes. Before final welding I plan on making a brass keeper plate, to fit on the remote instead of the steel one. Also need to find/make a better gear knob.

You certainly are talented

I like that gear knob. Looks great Dave.

But would it feel great in your hand?

Hmm. What design would you suggest Bobbi?

Ohh err missus ! We'll have less of that smutty talk.  :D

It was a bit small but this one feels a bit better. Machined from aluminium and polished. Top has been left plain for the moment. Looking for a nice deco design for it.

 :)

That's luvly!

nice knob!!!!  oerrr!! lol

I was going to do similar on mrs trike..cos she saw your drawing..I told her if I can get some different types of holes then we should be ok ?..nice one sir 8)

Cheers. :)
Remember with graduated holes, to store each size seperately, otherwise the smaller holes fall into the larger ones, never to be seen again.

Brass keeper plate. Doesn't make the gear change any different, but looks far better that the naff pressed steel one.

 8) 8)

pmsl!!!!

Had a look at the rear springs and found out why the rear end sits a bit low.
According to the parts book, there should be seven leaves, but there are only five,
plus a cut down leaf acting as a spacer lowering the rear further. ::)
Had no luck finding new or even second hand replacements so I'll try to rebuild the springs, mixing and matching leaves from the old front ones, to get the right ride height and spring rate. :-\

what model are they? i've a pair of springs here, of something from the 30's

if any good you can have them. might be a bit expensive to send though.

will get a pic up tomorrow.

Thanks Chris. 1946/47 Morris Eight. Think I should be OK, using a combination of parts and possibly re arching, but if the springs happen to be right by some miracle, I'll definitely have them. 7 leaf 37" eye to eye, 1 1/2"wide.
Because the car weighs so much less now, some playing around with the springs is inevitable.

I always knew that some parts would be hard to find, but it seems a lot of bits are unavailable anywhere. Today I had to make a pair of blanking plugs to fit below the king pins, these were turned up in brass and a pair of retainers for the felt washers that fit above the king pins, these I spun from sheet aluminium.

These are small items, that would be hard to do without and difficult to make without a lathe.

It's often the little parts that can be the hardest to find, as you say good job you have a lathe and the ability to use it.

Stix

The top of an old tin can would have done ? ::)

But the top of an old tin can would not have the hole in it!!! :D :D

Stix

Actually a hole within a hole. The aluminium discs were holes cut from the dash for the light switches. So I am recycling old scrap holes :D
Didn't have any old tin can lids in stock. ;D

Oh man, your going to blow Stinkeys mind with that one ....... Holes within Holes     ;D ;D ;D ;D

You can't fool me guys..tin cans come with holes in the lids ,just pull the ring pull ? And iv been eating the holes from polo mints for years..and any holes I make when doing my brackets. I reuse them .. ;D

Seems the rear springs may have rusted solid !
Despite having a couple of leaves missing, with rear of the car up on chassis stands and a jack lifting the axle, the springs defect less than 10mm before the chassis lifts off of  the stands. :o
 I know the car is a lot lighter now, but I would expect a bit more movement than that.
Hopefull I will get the rear axle out and the springs stripped this week, but it's looking more and more like I will need to re arch the springs. :(

While the front suspension came apart easily, the rear is proving to be, what one might say, slightly more difficult.
    Think I may need some new U bolts.

Good grief!    :o

Not quite as bad as it looks BG.  When trying to undo the nuts one of the U bolts sheared. So I figured I might as well cut them off and replace with new. Much safer that way.

Rear spring compared with an old front spring. Definately lost a bit of curve..

Nice work, look at all this old stuff, I would like to try my hand at something like this for the sands. Andy

Top leaf re arched. Now just have to do the rest to match. I am aiming for a 1 1/2" lift, which should get the car level. I hope.

So how do you put the spring back into a spring that doesn't?   I'm never going to want to do it but I love to know these things!

Not needed here, but spring steel can be re hardened then tempered by heat treatment. Ideally the spring should be annealed, formed then heat treated.

The spring leaves had rusted together, stopping them from sliding over each other, causing them to form a solid block. They had also sagged due to holding the weight of the car for almost 70 years. But the leaves still had plenty of "spring" to them
By carefully re bending each leaf slightly past the spring back point, moving back a forth along the leaf, to get to the desired shape, it is possible to cold re arch the spring. I used the hydraulic pipe bender for this.
Once cleaned, painted, lubricated, and with new bushes, they should, hopefully give many years more service.

Cheers Olds!

One pair of matched, re arched, re bushed and rebuilt springs. Would have been much simpler, but perhaps less fun, if I could have bought new.

I like that method, nice work. Andy

 :)
New box section crossmember (one that wont be hit by the axle case) fitted so I can now cut out the last of the 'bed frame' angle iron, welded in by a previous  owner.

The rear axle is causing a few headaches. The internals and halfshafts are Morris 8 but the casing appears to be an early Morris banjo one. This coupled with the Morris z van, tele shock conversion, that was badly done, means the new U bolts don't fit (the old ones had been bent to make them go on). I also don't have any dampers. So rooting in my big box of bit I found a pair of rear lever arm shocks that are still good, but no links to the axle.  A bit more rummaging and I found a pair of new MGB links from a previous build and a pair of old short links from, something. The MG links fit the axle, the short links fit the lever arms, so grinder and welder and all is fine.
Should also look a little more period than telescopic, but would love a set of friction shocks. Perhaps one day, as an addition, not purely for aesthetics, but would add some adjustment to damping.

Could you not make some friction shocks? Should be easy compared to some of the stuff you manage, and you do have a lathe?

Funny you should say that.
Yep could do and probably will, already sort of planned at least for the front. Hartford shocks are expensive but the only difficult part to make would be  the spring and they are quite cheap. Thought along the lines of something a bit big, to match the shape of the front and got to have some etched brass. Lots of other, more important stuff to do first though.
Have just bought a Mk IV Spitfire fuel tank, on evil bay. Thought I would have to make something, but this should fit perfectly and allow fitting the filler through the top of the tail section. Just hope it turns up. Never did get the wheels.

Trying to source parts for the rear axle meant having to identify it first.
 This should be easy, thinks I.
  Well I thought WRONG !
The half shafts are definitely Morris 8, but the casing is a bit like a Morris Minor one, only it's not.
Apparently, it's from the last of the Morris 8 vans. These were made, mainly for the Post Office.
Info is scarce, but it seems like there was limited production, and only for a couple of years.
Made finding seals and the like, oh so much fun. ::)
Happily, it looks like some 1949-53 Minor parts will fit. :)

I always seem to buy "cross over year" vehicles, when they changed from one fitting to another & neither seems to fit.

Yep been there. :D
So far I've been lucky. Finding parts for something this old, is usually a matter of finding what else it may have been used on and having an original parts list helps.

Yey ! Fuel tank arrived and it fits. ;D
Only just mind you. No signs of rust or leaks and even the sender unit works. Cost  £37.50 delivered which is less then the price of a sender unit. Plan is to make a mounting frame/ rear hoop that sits under the body and have top harness mounts fitted . The filler cap can also to be mounted to this frame (or may just be mounted direct to the tank) and through a hole in the boat tail.

Having visited Mr Olds's garage yesterday evening, I can confirm it's all looking rather spiffing. Nice work Sir.

Got yourself a good deal on the tank  ;D

Thanks MM  :)
Yep, think it was a good deal NS (too many Andy's  :D)
Postie delivered the new UJ's for the prop and the pinion flange seal, for the axle today, so the prop is ready to go back in once it's been painted and the axle is done.
While the axle was being stored, nose down, the oil dripped out all over the floor,  ::) so I knew that a new pinion seal was needed.
Getting the flange nut undone took a lot of force despite it being soaked in WD40 for the past week. By a lot of force I mean 460 lb/ft, which is me standing on the end of a three foot breaker bar.
 Went with such a bang, that I was sure something had sheared but all is fine.
Think the flange needs sleeving or replacing. :(

Liking this build..nice and not to elaborate or over the top..nice one sir  ;)

Thanks.
The new seal was very tight on the shaft of the flange, so I have taken a small risk, in skimming the surface in the lathe, followed by burnishing using a polished tungsten carbide tool. This both polishes and work hardens the surface.

Well the axle is back in and the car is on it's wheels and I am very pleased with the result.  :)
The chassis rails are now parallel to the ground. A bit higher up admittedly, (which I like) with new springs up front and rebuilt, arched springs at the back,  the main thing is, both ends now have some bounce, instead of feeling like the chassis is sat on bricks.
I will try to get the car outside for a pic sometime.

Yeah, I want to see photos!  :)

Me to  ;D

OK ! ::)
Included myself to give an idea of size.
Looks a lot less complete than earlier pics. All the alloy body panels are safely stored away.

From the back.
Sitting a bit higher now.

Cockpit. Just because I like the gear lever  ;D

That puts it in perspective, I didn't quite realise just how tall she is.   I too like the gear lever...... LOTS 8) 

Yeah, but Dave's only 3 foot 6.
I like the tall ride height.

Looks good the way it should, gear lever is outstanding.

did the good lady ,,,boss,, take the pictures,,??? the garden is rather ,,spiffing,, ;) ;)

  ;D Cheers guys.
 I'm at least 3 foot 6 1/2" as you fully well know ! >:(

Yep, from previous pics, folk seem to think that it's similar to an Austin 7 Ulster in size, but it's 14" longer in wheelbase and proportionately bigger all round.
As I said at the start of the build, I want this to be tall and narrow. More 1920s than the later, lower stance, that evolved for sports/race cars in the 30s.
Makes getting in harder but working underneath easier. :)

Pics taken by my daughter.

same as mine!!!!

thats brilliant.

 ;D
The prop tunnel is in a poor state having previously been, cut, riveted, dented, drilled and mounted too high. The rear transverse floor supports have also been removed. None of this by me I might add.
 Rather than trying to repair, I had decided to replace it all with new steel and while the prop is out seems a good time to do it.
  Just need to borrow, a meter length of 4" diameter steel bar or heavy tube, to form the tunnel over. Hmmm, wonder what size lamp posts are ? ;)

 :)

Co2 bottle maybe, Dave....

fire extinguisher  used and use it,,, or use it as a former  ;)

Thanks for the suggestions guys.
Lunatic had a bit of heavy wall 5" stainless tube in his workshop so I nicked borrowed that. Thanks mate.
 A bit big in diameter but it gave me something to start forming the tunnel over, then it was a matter of tightening up the radius over a scaffold pole, to get the final shape
Not a lot to show for four hours work. but the tunnel was a real pig to shape evenly. as it's  18 swg steel and just over thee foot long.
Think I may clad the tunnel in aluminium, or perhaps even brass or copper, once it's finished.

Nicely done Dave. How did you fold the flange so evenly -before or after you rolled the tunnel?

Before.
I put the steel between two massive bits of angle iron, that I mount in the big vice, with clamps at each end. Then slowly hammer the material over using a large lump hammer and a long block of wood to spread the load, to reduce stretching and denting .
Two bits of kit, that I should have bought or made years ago, but never got around to, are a decent length folder and a rolling machine.

The problem is they take up room olds. Nice work, even the sketch is good.

 :D
Been playing origami with the tunnel making it fit together. One more panel to make, across the whole width, between the floor supports/tunnel and the shelf, then I can weld it all together. The existing galv panels can be taken out (bolted in) to allow welding and then may be put back, as they will act as splash panels.

Very pretty. Have you added a flange at the back of the tunnel there?

Yep. I deliberately made the tunnel long enough to form (hammer) a flange to make spot welding to the front panel easier. Hardest part was working out the elipse, as the panel is at an angle. Tunnel has also been cut and flanges or tabs folded out, to weld the transverse panels in place.

I love the fact mr olds uses big technical words ;)

And makes pretty stuff.

Nah, that's not technical, its when the moon covers the sun, and it goes dark in the day!! honest..... ;D

 ::)
Occasionally I wonder, why I endeavour to present a concise sumarization of the photographic depictions. It can be comparable to, conversing with a group of arboreal simiiformes.  ;) :D ;D

P-r-e-t-t-y   p-i-c-t-u-r-e-s.

I think the comma is in the wrong place ;D and summarization has two emms unless you are not referring to that part of the year between spring and autumn, but then it may have regardless of context ???. Who knows? Who cares?
Brilliant thread by the way.

I think we're all to clever on here ? :-[ I don't remember learning big words at school though ?

Thank you.
While the comma is somewhat debateable, I believe that I am correct, putting the emphasis on the word, why. The erroneous spelling of the word, summarisation, is completely due to my own negligence and for that, I shall flagellate myself profusely. ;D

 ;D ;D ;D

In fact both the commas are entirely unneccessary;  they are in fact aberrant commas, which is an interesting thing to see as I have only ever previously encountered aberrant apostrophes.

BG aka Mrs Pedant.

I didn't want to point out the first comma as I wasn't sure. I was referring to the second one. I bow to your superior knowledge.
Olds, you need to get your act together ::)
Still a brilliant thread though. Can we go back to the build now please?

 ;D
My grammer skills are virtually non existant but enough of this frivolity.

Panel made to join it all together.   I want to add some reinforcement to the underside of the tunnel in a couple of places such as, where the handbrake will be mounted, so it's not welded to the chassis yet.

Realised that what would once have been done in a day, has taken four ! :(

But doesn't it look good Dave. Nicely done -again.

What manky says

You get those in Australia, Dave, they live there, always have! even before Captain Cook.......

Very good, nice work from using hand tools.

 :) Thanks folks.
Using only hand tools is a bit harder and does tend to take longer, but I am happy with the way it's working out.
It's as near as I can get it to how it would have come from the factory, including the stiffening swages on the kick panel.
The rear floor sections should now fit correctly, instead of being tilted up at the back.

you should be real proud of your work dave.

even if you did have access to pro-tools i'd still be in awe of your work.

big respect. i've worked out my limits, body building is not one of them.

 :-[
Thanks mate.
Pics always make things look better than they are.
Will not be doing much on it for a while.

That's why I post grainy pics.. ::)

 ;D
Oops made a bit of a blunder.  :-[  I was so concerned about getting everything right at the back end of the tunnel, that I hadn't noticed at the front, it didn't quite sit high enough into the  floor support/crossmember. Widthwise it was fine but there was a 1/4" or so gap at the top.
Had to stretch the tunnel upwards. Think I have almost managed to make it look like it is supposed to be like this. :-\

No-one else would know!

We all know now ?  A man could use that knowledge to good use ?  ;)

 :P

nice get out there dave

 ;D
While looking for inspiration I came across a very familiar pic in google images.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/gallery/1159_06_08_15_5_57_51.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?action%3Dgallery;sa%3Dview%26id%3D71&h=400&w=533&tbnid=AfHRv43WvErg0M:&docid=7yK1326LukyPOM&ei=ZVorVseCDci0UZb6tPgH&tbm=isch&ved=0CCYQMygJMAlqFQoTCIfJy6Dw2sgCFUhaFAodFj0Nfw

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSoyz9mRwr_6nGL-7cROrCBUOGfU7HflwX-kbQfS2Rxrhxa7hfqvw.

The Olds Speedster is famous (well sort of) and it's not finished yet. :D

I often find pics of my stuff on google ? Quite scary really ?

True but sort of fun. There are quite a few of the Olds Trike as well.

For some reason or other, that is the first time I've seen it all in one piece sort of. Well done, very envious.

God I could put some holes in that ? ;D

Thanks coppersmith. More pics on page 36. Panels were removed so I could finish the frame and work on the mechanicals / chassis without fear of damaging them.
Lots of holes already stinkey plus a lot of slots but will be adding some more later.

Yes it must be quite nice coming across your own car, it will sort of live forever in the 010101010 world.

Possibly the most complicated fabricated sub assembly (panel wise) that I have done for some time. Amazingly, not only does it all go together, but it also fits the chassis.

I thought it was an antique Hoover ? ::)

Wood Burner.

As always great work.

Looks great , nice work. Andy

You could sell them Dave,as the olds patented Snow Shovel.

WHAT IS ,,SNOW,,, ;D ;D and why shovel it   ??? ??? ??? ???

Have to be rock star to need a shovel for snow. A credit card is usually enough to make a line. ;)
Some time ago I bought an amature made boot floor, figuring that I could improve it. Made out of several bits of badly welded galvanised steel and warped in many directions, I have decided to junk it and start from scratch, hammering it out from a single sheet of steel. Had to stop for the night because of the noise but its about half way there.

Nah. There was "rockstar" on the bbc last night being interviewed.

Turns out when he travels they book him another room in the hotel so he can build his model trains.

He got quite upset by this coming out and promptly changed the subject.

 ;D
Rear/boot floor finished. Not perfect by any means and not welded in yet but it fits quite well and distortion was minimal. The two lumps are for clearance and access to the lever shock units and took a hell of a lot of hammering and heat to get right.

A shame to hide that away inside the car Dave.

Thanks Andy.
Nothing really to show at the moment. Had some problems welding in the rear panel but it's done now. Think it's mainly down to lack of adjustment on the cheap mig I have (& I'm rubbish at welding). Lower setting and the weld didn't want to fuse to the old steel of the chassis rails, switch it up and it wanted to burn away the thinner sheet steel. Ended up having to do every plug/spot weld (& there are a lot of them) at the higher setting first, grind it flush then re weld at a lower setting.

that sounds like a right ball ache!!!!

my welder is having a big hissy fit, but then it is nearly 20yr old!!!!!

trouble is once i run outa gas, wire theres no money to buy more.

Beads look good for hammer work, must have strong arms and happy neighbours.

 ;D
Luckily my neighbours are mostly in the late 70s or older and a bit deaf (well they are now) and everone seems to have got used to the constant noise emanating from the garage.
Hammer forming the stiffening beads causes less distortion at the ends than using a bead roller would (and I don't have a bead roller).

Yeah, that's why I don't TIG weld -because I don't have one.

Iv got one and doesn't distort ? :-\

Hmm. All the ones I've tried for large beads (these are 20mm) have distorted the ends of the panel where the  bead doesn't go due to it pulling the panel into shape rather than stretching the steel to form the bead. With  multiple parallel  beads, the panel ends up a lot shorter where the beads are, than down the sides where the panel is flat causing all sorts of twisting.
 Perhaps I was doing it wrong. :-\
Stunk the garage out applying a couple of coats of celly primer. Put on using a roller, but the finish is good enough for an area that won't be seen.   :)

looks real good to me.

Looks like I may have found some wire wheels  ;D Only problem is they are in Peterborough  :( Waiting to hear if they can be sent by courier, as long as it's not Yodel.

I'm coming home from Holland via Harwich next Monday evening Dave. I'll be in a van. Peterborough's a 2 hour detour from the ferry port if you want them collected.

That is a very kind offer Andy but I won't know if I will have won the bid untill that evening, plus I wouldn't want to add to an already long journey.

it may well be because of the size of the bead ? Iv never had enough shrinkage to notice ( ooh er mrs ! ) looks good though..a good bead is like a good hole..shows you've gone that extra bit ? 
Does this sound smutty ? :o

yes :D

 ;D ;D ;D
Been starting to get the mid build blues recently. Not helped by the fact that the car looks far less complete than it did in the summer, when all the body panels were tempoarily attached.
So I did a stock take on what has been achieved so far. The chassis has been finished all bar the side covers and some paint. The body frame, panels and bonnet sections are all done and aside from using parts of a Minor bonnet, it's all been hand made. Suspension all round and front axle completely rebuilt. Engine and gearbox conversion finished (still don't know if it will run  :D). Still a lot to do but I think I may be on schedule for a two year build (not that there is a deadline).
 Might even take a week off (only kidding) ;D
What I'm trying to say is, during a long build there will be times when progress is slow and it seems that it will never get done. Instead of thinking about how much there is still to do, look back a see what has been achieved. A glass half full mentality can really help.

How it was August last year.

That's very true Dave. I keep thinking my Pop isn't getting anywhere, but although I've taken a couple of weeks off from it to work on my bike, it's changed dramatically since it was last on the road.
Other people see the changes to our projects, but when you see them every day, sometimes we don't.

Very true MM.
 I had the bright idea of giving myself, a little extra foot space by narrowing the cover where possible.
The result of this small aberration of the mind, was four hours of panel beating and I'm still not entirely happy with it. :-\
I have however manage to get an extra 20mm of foot space width. May not seem a lot but with a footwell this narrow every mm counts.

Looks fine to me! One of the few bits I'd change in the Pop -plenty of leg length, but no width at all. I have to drive with both feet on the pedals all the time because the footwell's so narrow.

Dave, that looks spiffin' as per, and Mr. M, if the Pop is tight on foot room, you should try this bloody 3 wheeler of mine, you can only drive in the equivalent of Ballet pumps! really, and you don't half get some odd looks when you eventually struggle out, no doors either, in Levi's and pink shoes!! ;D only kidding, but space is zilch, and I take size 6!! so....

Cheers guys.
Made a start on the top seatbelt harness / fuel tank mount. Made from 33mm OD x 3mm wall tube, it fits tight under the boat tail and will be braced back down to the chassis.

There are some ideas that should have stayed as just an idea. Agreeing to fit harness type belts was one of them.
The top harness mounting points are going to have to come through the boat tail and I figured that some form of 'aerodynamic' alterations would cover this up.
The rear is not what one could call flat, so it took a bit of flaffing around to get one side done. Now all I have to do is make the exact same thing, only handed, for the other side.
Not sure about the look, so I might also try to make something shorter, wider and rounder. :-\

Yay ! Got a set of four wire wheels off ebay that hopefully wont need totally rebuilding.
Now praying to the god of delivery that they actually turn up.

with reference to your wheels, last week my carbs turned up in a black bin bag ! Seems the courier had gone scat and they had been left in a warehouse somewhere until the receiver allowed release, so, fingers crossed on your wheels.

 :o Glad to hear they eventually arrived. :)
Got the other side done this morning.  I though making one side fit was awkward till i tried to make another one the same. Took two hours and much cursing but turned out ok.
Would have been a lot easier in aluminium.

Look great Dave -& disguise any last trace of the boat tail's Moggy Minor origins.

Manky parts collection service is available if you need it.

Kind of you to say so MM but I think the shape and size is wrong. will try again but this time try to get the proportions of the cockpit fairing of an SE5A.
Hopefully I shouldn't need the Manky collection service.

Please do a vickers poking through the front cowl too!

 :D I thought exactly the same!

 ;D
Has been thought of, as has a Lewis mounted on a navigator side swivel mount.  :D
Still playing around with shapes as this is really going to alter the looks of the car that I need to get it right (and this isn't right).

Looking back at the picture taken of the car out side on page 36, what about two cowls similar to what you have already made but that follow the same profiles of the top of the seat backs, in width and height. Out of the two designs you have done I like the latter. Bet your fore arms are a bit sore ;D 

I'd love to know how you formed that Dave. I like that one too!

That would be fine if it was a little longer.

Thought about that and mocked it out with card, but without corresponding humps in the scuttle, (like MG TD) it made the scuttle look odd.
Plus I am trying to make this a bit different.

I would like to say that it was beaten from sheet but I cheated. It's a much reworked section of spare wheel well.

That is the next step to try. Use the front half or so and extend the rear tapering back down to the  lid. I can easily mock this up without cutting what's there.

Finally got a shape that I'm happy with. Taller and wider than attempt 1, less weird than attempt 2. :)

(http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0112.gif) (http://www.desismileys.com/)

That does look better

Agreed.

looks great.

Thanks folks.
Last pic. showing both sides. Will need to weld in the safe edge and modify the lid before welding and riveting these in place.

Much better.

Nothing much has happened recently but  I have a new radiator mascot.  Old, short, hairy and wielding a hammer. Apparently my family think this looks like me !  :P

(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11987086_1640532279538474_1901556509685211641_n.jpg?oh=b7ce047f07ec8f2ae5c7f773df56106e&oe=571A7490)

 ;D

 :P

Well, there is, in certain light, a definite.......................... :D :D :D :D

Yes there is

 :D
Used to be more so, but the change from full beard to chops was required as I was being mistaken for a 'hipster'.  ;D ;D ;D

(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11021095_1607160106185613_4616408173587542753_n.jpg?oh=384bb23fdf38a288426703f54a8cf59c&oe=56EB0005)

Thanks Chris  :P
After a year and four months searching, I finally have a set of wire wheels. Rims and spokes all look to be useable but I wont really know untill I get the paint stripped off.

I think that's what you call dogged determination :)  Are you going to use a large tin of Old's Elbow Grease to remove the paint or will you have them blasted?

 ;D
Probably a combination of the two. The paint is really thick so I will try to scrape and wire wheel most of the paint off, then finish with blasting. Just need to make a  cabinet big enough to get the wheels in.

OK, so forget shot blasting ! The wheels have been blasted before and the thick black paint turns out to be, under body or anti stone chip paint. This is somewhat resistant to blasting ! >:(
So it's a matter of using a blowtorch and scraper, then finishing off with paint stripper. Hate to do this with wire wheels and I will have to be very thorough in fully neutralising the stripper.

Have fun!

can you not have them chemically dipped?

I could I suppose, but where would the fun be in that.
After all the aggravation of getting these wheels I am not letting them out of my sight. All work will be done here.
A lot of the spokes look suspect so will need to be replaced, but the rim, although pitted in places looks to be sound.

Got the second wheel stripped of paint and It's obvious that all the spokes will need replacing so might as well put all new spokes every wheel.
36 spokes x 5 wheels will add up to a lot of cash if I have them specially made. Will make my own from straight blanks, so it looks like I will be doing a lot of spoke cutting, bending and thread rolling in the new year.

Thread rolling? I haven't seen that done in years. Used to watch threaded bar coming off a converted capstan lathe. That is a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be good work. Love to see that happening, spoke making.

Fed up of stripping paint, and with so many spoke that will need to be bent accurately. thought I'd make a vice mounted bending tool.
Will need to make two stops for this at about 30 and 45 degrees but that will have to wait till I have the spokes so I can gauge the ammount of spring back.

I have enough trouble making parts, let alone making the tools to make the parts!

Fabricated out offcuts and scrap, it didn't take long to make but should save a lot of time and hassle later.

At the hub end of the spokes, will they be helmet shaped, if so how will you achieve that. ??? ??? ? 

Tis nice to see work from another member of the  'Bitsa Tool Makers Fellowship'   ;)

Going to use straight blanks. These are already headed and only need to be bent to shape, cut to length and then threaded.


 ;D Love making my own tools and anyway, I've no idea where I'd find one to buy even if I wanted to.

One step closer to making my own spokes. Just been given a thread rolling machine and a selection heads, by the person who taught me to build wheels over 40 years ago. Who also happens to be my aunt. ;D
Now just waiting on the blanks.

That is a interesting looking piece of equipment, how large treads can you roll with it?

Largest spoke size is 8 swg (just over 4mm), which is what I need. To be honest that really is at the limit of these machines and the manufacturer no longer makes rolling heads in this size (it's at least 40 years old) Luckily I have a couple of 8 gauge heads, one ok and the other perfect, otherwise I would be really stuck.

The horrors that can be hidden under a thick coat of paint ! :o One of the rims has had holes in it filled with body filler !!  :o Shame as apart from this small area it's probably the best wheel of the lot. :(
 

When I have come across rust holes like that I have filled them by brazing, the size of holes you can fill is surprising. Mind you I have only ever repaired axle casings where there is not enough meat to take a weld, never tried it on wheels but cant see why it would not work.  :-\