Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Well, today was the "show & shine" day at Popstalgia, a show in Leicestershire dedicated to Ford Populars, Fordson vans & Prefects. It was the one event I was definitely, definitely driving the Pop to this year ...
Next year. I'll be there next year
Pinball Wizard showed up last year -the car that first sparked my love of Pops back in the early 70s.
This year 2 other icons were due to be there -the revamped Fordsons, "Hot n Bothered" & "Plum Crazy". Unfortunately Plum didn't make it after blowing a head gasket 30 miles from the show & H n B had to be pushed onto the showfield. Bad luck for both, but at least it's comforting for the likes of me that even the greats have off days.

[Manky Monkey]

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[Manky Monkey]

At least they inspired me to work on my own, but as usual, I seem to be taking more parts off than I put on.
Sometimes I look at this & it's as if someone else built it. Loony & I were in a hurry to get it done to get it tested before the commercial vehicle test was phased out, so several bits were mounted wherever they'd fit, just to get them on & working. Now I think Why on earth did we put that there?
The fuel pumps are a case in point. The front one was on a bracket that bolted across the chassis & the pick-up bed, meaning it had to be taken off to remove the bed.
The cylindrical fuel tank that supplied it had the outlet on the driver's side, although the fuel lines run down the passenger side of the chassis. So the pump & filter were directly above the spinning propshaft.
We started with the original Pop fuel tank, heavily modified, but it leaked, so I swapped it for a new repro model T tank & welded the outlet pipe in the same position as the original. It would've been far better on the passenger side.
So, having had the new tank painted, I've decided to get the outlet blanked off & a new one welded in. That'll make the routing of the pipework much tidier.
So this morning I drilled & tapped the chassis under the back of the cab to mount the electric fuel pump under the cross member.

[Manky Monkey]

While laying under the chassis, I could see several areas of paintwork that need redoing. The bottom edge of the cab, where it sits on the chassis, needs blowing over again in green & the "M" in the swage line needs filling & sanding  on one edge, then re-spraying. The whole of the back of the cab needs cutting & polishing too.

[Manky Monkey]

The rear fuel pump sat on a bracket that hung from the chassis on the passenger side. I've always disliked it there, but with the pick-up bed on, it's hidden. I've decided to move it inboard & bolt it to the side of the battery box. Much tidier & again, will make the routing of the fuel pipe simpler. So this evening I hacksawed this old bracket off.

[Manky Monkey]

I'd forgotten what the chassis looked like! I had to move all the parts that were piled up on it to unbolt the battery box to drill it.

[Baychimp]

Sometime in the not to distant future,I'll come round and have a go at the rear of the Cab.

[Manky Monkey]

Always nice to see you mate. Thought maybe you'd been unwell as I haven't seen you for a while.
As I was about to lock up & go home I saw something move out the corner of my eye. A rat? A cat? Nope, 2 hedgehogs. One big one ran across the open doorway & disappeared under a fence into a neighbouring garden, while a much smaller one chose to try & hide.
I love hedgehogs. Tazet & I used to feed them when I lived in her cottage in Surrey. First time I've seen them in the middle of this Basingstoke council estate though.
I very carefully locked up, checked under my car & slowly drove out of the yard. Made my day

[Manky Monkey]

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[stinkey]

Not seen a LIVE hedgehog in years and did see a squashed  one the other day and that's become a rarity too?
At least your making some progress Andy ..as for H&B..the paint job spoilt it for me ?

[Manky Monkey]

Taz & I used to watch SpringWatch on the tellybox, telling us how hedgehogs are dying out -then we'd open the back door & there'd be 6 on the patio. We fed them on dried mealworms. Cost us s fortune but worth every penny.
I like the new version of Hot n Bothered. It's a top quality build & the finish is flawless. It's only the paint that people have got upset about. Should it be allowed to evolve, or stay as a museum piece, passed from one curator to the next & never changing? Some have -Henry Hirise & Havoc have both been rebuilt & are out & about just as they used to be. Some have changed -Rubellion's new owner redid it in perforated copper sheet & orange perspex, to the horror of it's fans, before he emigrated to Canada & took it with him. Pinball Wizard was resprayed in signal yellow by our own GoForest, but for me it should've stayed in it's original golden yellow flake & fogged panels. I guess if you want to keep it original you need to buy it yourself If someone else buys it & saves it from the scrapyard, (very often everybody likes these cars, but no-one steps forward to buy them), then it's up to them what they do with it. At least they're all still out there, being enjoyed

[stinkey]

Totally agree Andy..I've never actually seen H&B in it's new guise ?

[Manky Monkey]

The orange one at the top of this page
No, I haven't seen it in the flesh yet, but would've if I'd gone to Popstalgia.
You'll never please everyone & although it's great to see an iconic car looking just as you remembered it, it's also cool to see them evolve over the years. At the moment there seems to be a good mix of both.
I'd love to get some photos of my Pop alongside Pinball Wizard, as it was my dream car when it was featured in Custom Car magazine when I was 12. I've been to the current owner's house in Derbyshire & have sat in the Wizard several times. Tazet & I went to Derbyshire to collect one of it's old Mopar engines, which was given to us free of charge for Taz's Dodge Charger.
So I've sat behind the wheel of my dream Pop & owned one of it's hearts

[Manky Monkey]

Nothing to see here. Move along.

[stinkey]

My dream POP..Mr T...