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Another job completed today was fitting the body tub.
Firstly I removed the bonnet hinge box.
I then cut off the outer bumper bracket.
This left a stumpy chassis rail but the main chassis remains unaltered.
Now I was stuck with a choice, cut the main chassis rail so the body would fit over it making a neat job (but this might up-set DVLA) or cut the body work and leave the chassis exposed.
After much thought and a chat with John it was the body work that got the chop.
Again it didn't turn out to bad
Looks OK, I might be able to use the protruding chassis to fit the lights or indicators. layball:
Now the body sitting straight you can get the feel for the car.
Micky1Mo - The front end of my Spitfire chassis matches the way you have done this one.
And I believe that this is 100% within the DVLA rules regarding an original, unmodified chassis.
"Chassis includes the full original length of the longitudinal members"
I know DonnySoutherner pushed that definition when he fitted his bonnet hinges.
But I think his interpretation of the rules is OK too, although everyone should make their own decisions.
( As I was able to hinge my bonnet with the wider set up, I didn't need to cut any further. )
Good luck getting everything else to fit in the small spaces available.
Hi folks, sorry to be absent - I moved house before Christmas and it has taken Openreach until now to sort out my phone and broadband. To my ex Royal Air Force mates Hi! Yes, I am thinking CXX colours, a small roundel and maybe even a CXX Sqn badge may make it on to the car (but just the one and quite small). Only trouble is I need to lose about 4 stone to fit in the wretched thing! Visited Mike today and car is coming on nicely. Hoping to drive it at the end of the week
I have now put this car together but it's been fighting me all the way.
I was planning to MOT it Monday but a gear box linkage problem meant the body had to come off after I had fitted the dash, lined the boot ,seals the access points etc.
Still here a few photos.
The grill is Land Rover 90/110 cut down.
I think the high level brake light looks very period.
The exhaust was made out of leftover bits and cost just £30
Very tight in the engine bay.
But not as tight as the cockpit.
Had to be "creative" regarding the screen.
All-in-all it's come out quite well, both myself and John the owner are pleased.
The only thing stopping me now is get it running some where near right.
Anyone got any tips on tuning a Triumph 1500 engine as I just can't get it right
The sad news is I can't take a mould as a firm in France has the copy-right and moulds to the Moss Monaco.
So it you want one you'll have to go through the Moss owner club to get one.
It will be a very cozy ride with a passenger but you could have some laughs, buy an XXX large jacket for both the driver and passenger to wear zipped up and you will get some crazy laughs from onlookers.
The running issue could be down to the velocity stacks being fitted over the air filters instead of directly onto the carbs. They might also be a bit long to allow idling and low-speed torque on a road car.
It might be nothing to do with the stacks, but from tuning (proper) minis years ago I found that the 'A' series was very sensitive to intake tract length and the old Triumph four pots aren't that different in design.
Well done for finishing the car, I always liked the Monaco design but looking at the width of the cockpit now I doubt I'd get one buttock into the driver's seat...
This car is still fighting me, not only is it running rough, but the radiator now needs replacing which is going to be fun in that engine bay.
The carbs are running standard air filters , the velocity stacks are dummies just bolted onto the back of the filters. I just thought they looked the part.
The more time I spend on the car the more frustrating it's becoming, so close yet so far.
I did manage to drive it around the yard yesterday so at lease I now know it starts, drives and stops which is something.
Fitted another set of carb from a running engine, NO GOOD
Fitted new dizzy, plugs, points, condenser, cap, leads, NO GOOD.
Reset the timing, checked the tappets, firing order etc, NO GOOD.
Compression per cylinder 150psi average,
Found water in the oil so removed the head.
Found this
Engine has brand new 20+ oversized pistons!! No wonder the compression was so high!!
Cylinder head looks to have new valves.
It appears the engine was rebuilt at some point and never run.
As I have only managed to get it running roughly I am now wondering if the valve/cam timing is correct although it looks OK from the outside.
All-in-all I am really getting pi**ed off with it.
I know from bitter personal experience that it's possible to install a Triumph cam 180 degrees out and the engine will fire but run very badly. I'd be checking the valve sequence.
Oh, and you might want to clean all that crap off the valves too, mine ran much better once I did that -
I see you are still using the BMW based car on your entries, Mike, and it still appears in one of the web sales pages. Have you sold it ? Also what has happened to the Reliant SS1 based car ?
Do the carbs still have the waxstat main jets fitted? Modifying them to fixed operation used to be cure for some running problems if I remember correctly
Did you managed to get the engine running, check you have a good fuel supply, good spark and then the timing of cam and dizzy. These engines are pretty straight forward to work on, old technology.
Ive found in the past that if you inherit another persons handy work it pays to have the frame of mind that all will be wrong and start at the beginning working through everything. You say the engine was running which suggests something small is at fault, does it idle ok or rough and was there plenty of power when pulling away.
Took the car for it's MOT test yesterday which it passed.
On the drive to the MOT station I had problems with the clutch, which turn out to be the slave cylinder and the mudguard stays rubbing the wheels after the suspension had settled.
Today I fitted a new clutch slave cylinder, re-bent the mudguard stays and continued/started the "road development" stage.
I contact John (the owner) to tell him what was happening and he soon joined me complete with flying helmet and goggles.
With much effort John climbed into the car ready for his first drive but managed to jam down the clutch pedal so hard a screw-driver was need to release it.
Undeterred, he did get on the road and slowly gained confidence/speed I think we once touched 40mph but had to stop as John nearly lost his flying helmet .
Our combined weight caused more problem with the mudguard stays so I'll re-bend them again in the morning.
All-in-all it's been a fun if not challenging build and John has been a pleasure to work with.
IMHO the car looks as if it's been around for years and has a oldie-worldie charm about it and should be let alone to age gracefully but it's John car and he'll do what he want's with it.
I think what Mike meant to say was 'John quickly gained confidence and turned out to be a natural, not even the Stig could have driven it better!'.
Great fun car and nothing fell off. Been great working with Mike ,- he has the patience of a Saint and what he has achieved with this car has been amazing
layball:
John climbed into the car ready for his first drive but managed to jam down the clutch pedal so hard a screw-driver was need to release it.