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Wouldn't it benefit from being hinged on the hump side though? That way you'd have less mass to lift and support
Tried that first but the shape/curve of the boot means the front edge of hump drags along the paint work on initial opening.
Hinges mounted on the other side means the hump lifts clear and as it's hollow there no real weight to it so I went for that idea. .
This little car has never handled well and I just thought it was the rear spring or shocks so I would sort it out at some point.
I also thought the body was not central as the near side wheel was well inside the arch unlike the offside wheel, in fact, I had to use 20mm spacer to get it to look right.
Now that I'v fitted larger wheels and tyres (15x215x55) have I found the problem.
Larger MG minilite wheels fitted.
Near side view of wheel inner wheel arch.
Off side view of wheel inner wheel arch.
Turn out this car has a "short" drive shaft fitted to the near side and a "long" drive shaft fitted to the off side.
Firstly, I did'nt know there was a difference in drive shaft lengths and secondly,as far as I'm aware both drive shafts should be the same length .
This miss-match of drive shafts sets the rear suspension drop-links at different angles which would have cause the handling issue, oops!!
Perhaps a previous owner thought they'd switch to long drive shafts, but just did the one side first to see how it felt. As their daily commute was always round an anti-clockwise one-way system it handled just fine.
If it's any consolation, a previous owner of my donor had fitted a copper brake pipe into a union feeding a rear drum without flaring it. Thankfully it let go while I was bleeding the brakes, not out on the road. Needless to say I stripped the entire braking system down and made sure everything was safe.
It looks like you'll need to fit another long shaft to get the clearance you need, but aren't the radius arms for long and short shafts also different lengths and/or the ends sit at different angles?
Anyway, a thorough check of all the suspension and braking components appears to be in order.
Love the grill option! Was originally a bit taken aback due to what it's off of, but then thought 'stuff it' as it totally keeps with the character of the car!
Got this ready for MOT Friday.
This meant fitting a boot handle and stay.
Failed on!!
O/S rear brake (which turned out to be a sized wheel cylinder)
Battery insecure (strap undone).
Steering wheel lose ( column nut not tight).
Horn not loud enough (lose connection).
All jobs sorted in a few hours and a MOT certificate is now present.
There still a few jobs to be done and it hasn't had much "road development" but I can do these while I'm waiting for DVLA to return the up-dated V5 then I'll put it up for sale.
I really like this little car. Especially the back of the car looks very nice. I like the solution for the hump being placed on top of the boot lid. Great stuff.
PaulL I'v already have plans for this build and want to keep it as "standard" as possible but I'll fit the grill on the next build as I also plan on fitting doors.
Jerome The light are from a Ford Capri Classic or Ford Classic Capri, which ever way round you want to say it.
Love the stickers!
SWMBO actually asked if your name was Chris P Bacon.
ok.... so she'd had a few glasses of mummy's special grape juice first, but it made laugh nevertheless
Received the V5 from DVLA today which meant it's only taken 14 days to process the paperwork start to finish. This is because (as with all my cars) the photos, history and paperwork were present, correct and in order so only needed the DVLA "rubber stamp".
Just in case anybody thinks this car might be a ringer.
The V5 now reads; make= TRIUMPH ALPHA.
model=Sports.
Keeping the TRIUMPH name should help registration in European countries
Over the next few days I'll take some fresh photos as it's now sporting 14" MG wire wheels.
This will soon be up for sale so if anyone interested contact me and have a chat before I put it on E-Bay.
That is definitely a Ford Fiesta back welded to an MGA front..
Opp's, there might be a TROLL out there just lurking ready to agree with you, besides the MGA bit is on the rear and I'v added MG wire wheel just to confuse them !!.
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