Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Each rod has a right hand threaded joint on o e end & a left hand one on the other. So once they're fitted, their overall length can be adjusted, (to sit the axle level & true), by just undoing the lock nuts & turning the rod. Unfortunately they turn easily by hand to a certain point, then stiffen up under load. In hindsight, I should've drilled a hole through each rod before painting, so I could use a screwdriver to turn them. I had to resort to a thick wad of cardboard around the tube & Molegrips. Amazingly, they seem to have survived intact.

[Manky Monkey]

The front end of the lower rods attach to the chassis under the back of the cab. The rose joints bolt to captive nuts welded inside the chassis rails. If I'd messed the threads up they would've been a nightmare to fix, so lots of copper grease & gently winding the bolts back & forth eventually cleared 6 or 7 years worth of crud & paint. Job done.

[Manky Monkey]

I had to jack up the back of the chassis & move the stands to fit the axle, so now I need to fix the paintwork under the cross member where they've been, as well as a couple of other spots. So I've flatted back the affected areas, ready for a couple of coats of black & lacquer.

[Manky Monkey]

I almost forgot to route the handbrake cable between the upper & lower rods. The outer sleeve has fixings that will bolt to the underside of the main fuel tank mount.

[Manky Monkey]

That was yesterday.
Today's garage self isolating involved drilling holes in the weight tube at the back of the chassis, tapping threads in them & fitting the new number plate mount.

[Manky Monkey]

There's a tube slung under the back of the chassis that will be filled with lead shot, or probably waste shotblasting grit as I can get that for free. It's to add some weight to the back end so I can run the Pop without the big heavy pick-up bed to start with & should give the tyres some traction, so the brakes don't lock up every time I step on the pedal.
I took it to a local welder to be stitched together, but the number plate mount ended up at an odd angle.
So I made another plate to bolt over the original to correct it. A bit of faffing about today, drilling holes with my newly purchased generator, & it fits. Much better.

[Manky Monkey]

The number plate lights are reproduction vintage tractor dashboard lights, powder coated black. They bolt through the new plate into captive nuts in the original plate underneath. The wires run inside steel conduits through the tube & come out at the back.
Obviously the powder coater's closed for the foreseeable future, so I'll prime & paint this tomorrow, (black).
I've ordered some self adhesive number plate mounting strips from Ebay as my local Halfords are only selling essential items at the moment.

[Manky Monkey]

.

[hornet6]

Its all coming together nicely....your doing a great job.

[Manky Monkey]

Thank you

[Olds]

Nice to see it coming together.
I used those same lights for the number plate on a Sebring MGB.

[Manky Monkey]

Messing about masking up & respraying various damaged areas of the chassis this afternoon, (just various scuffs & the cross member that sat on the axle stands).
The pick-up bed has a recess for the number plate so used lights that mounted inside it, (possibly MG), but they faced the wrong way on the new flat surface.
I plan to cut the bed into 4 separate side panels & bolt them together at the corners, but not sure how the tailgate panel will work out as the corners curve around under the chassis. I'll probably keep the weight tube for a while & just run the back & 2 sides, with the rear lights moved back to their original position on the panel sides until I figure it out.
I wonder if the sides will flop at the back end though without the support of the tailgate.

[Manky Monkey]

.

[stinkey]

That bed and tail gate look bloody lovely mate

[Manky Monkey]

Yeah, I like it & it makes the proportions of the whole thing just about right, but it needs a huge amount of cutting, welding, reshaping & refurbishing before it ever goes back on & I seriously doubt it'd go on without causing some major paintwork damage. Cutting it into separate panels would be a lot easier to handle.